Price v. Superior Court

Opinion

WOOLPERT, J.

Introduction

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By way of petition for extraordinary relief we are asked to nullify the respondent superior court’s transfer of four court clerks from the office of the petitioner county clerk to the court’s staff pursuant to Government Code section 69898.

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The lines are starkly drawn. The clerk contends she is a constitutional officer whose position may not be jeopardized by statute. Although she must supply court-related services, she remains the responsible employer of the clerical personnel she assigns to the superior court. In contrast, the court justifies its action by its own reading of the Constitution and statutory history, and denies its action has impermissibly diminished the office of the county clerk.

Says the counsel for respondent: “Only the superior courts have labored under a system which denies the judges the control necessary to enable them

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to function efficiently^]” a reference to the fact municipal and appellate courts have their own clerks. (§§ 68840, 69140 and 71280.4.)

Replies the clerk: “Although Respondent styles its argument as dealing with efficiency, the underlying theme is power.”

Amicus California Association for Superior Court Administration summarizes: “Courtroom clerks are, therefore, caught between two authorities: the Judges of the Superior Court to which they are assigned and the County Clerk who employs them. Personnel systems which apply to courtroom clerks are fraught with problems related to these divergent authorities.”

Underlying these concerns regarding efficiency, power and divergent authorities, is the significance of a longstanding constitutional provision

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naming the county clerk the ex officio clerk of the superior court. Because the county clerk is identified in the state Constitution in this fashion we will assume the office has constitutional status. However, we will conclude the action of the court was permissible under both a constitutional and statutory analysis.