County of Los Angeles v. Ranger Insurance

Opinion

ARMSTRONG, J.

— In this case we interpret the language of Code of Civil Procedure section 668.5 to determine whether the date of entry of a judgment in Los Angeles Superior Court, which maintains a register of actions rather than a judgment book, is dependent upon whether the judgment is entered in the register of actions prior to being placed in the court file.

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By way of background, we first note that prior to 1974, entry of judgment was governed exclusively by Code of Civil Procedure section 668,

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which required each county to maintain a judgment book and mandated that judgment was not entered until it was placed in the judgment book.

In 1974, the Legislature enacted section 668.5, providing an alternative method for the entry of judgment. Section 668.5 as originally enacted permitted counties which placed individual judgments in the file of the actions to cease use of judgment books so long as they microfilmed the judgment before placing it in the file.

In 1983, after several versions of a proposed amendment were considered by the Legislature, section 668.5 was amended to read as follows: “In -those counties where the clerk of the court places individual judgments in the file of actions and either a microfilm copy of the individual judgment is made, or the judgment is entered in the register of actions, or into the court’s electronic data-processing system, prior to placement of the judgment in the file of actions, the clerk shall not be required to enter judgments in a judgment book, and the date of filing the judgment with the clerk shall constitute the date of its entry.”

With the foregoing in mind, we recite the undisputed facts of this case. On March 11, 1992, defendant Ranger Insurance Company (Ranger) posted a bail bond guaranteeing the appearances of Raul Morga Rivera in Van Nuys Superior Court. In the event Rivera failed to appear, Ranger would pay $180,000.

On May 6,1992, Rivera failed to appear without sufficient excuse and bail was ordered forfeited. On October 30, 1992, Ranger filed a notice of motion and motion to vacate forfeiture and exonerate bond. On November 20,1992, the matter was submitted to the court and the motion was denied.