California Government Code

§ 69615

GOV § 69615 Effective Jan 1, 2011Title 8 · Ch. 5 · Art. 3

Statute text

(a)It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this section to restore an appropriate balance between subordinate judicial officers and judges in the trial courts by providing for the conversion, as needed, of subordinate judicial officer positions to judgeships in courts that assign subordinate judicial officers to act as temporary judges. The Legislature finds that these positions must be converted to judgeships in order to ensure that critical case types, including family, probate, and juvenile law matters, can be heard by judges.

(b)(1) The Legislature finds that because of the unique nature of family and juvenile law matters, including the long-lasting impact of decisions in these cases, particularly on vulnerable children, whenever possible, these cases should be presided over by judges, who are accountable to the public.

(2)The Legislature also finds that a Judicial Council study concluded that public trust and confidence in the courts are strongest when the public believes that the decisionmaking processes used by the court are fair and allow each litigant a reasonable opportunity to be heard by the court. In order to improve the public perception of procedural fairness in family law and juvenile law matters, it is necessary that cases be heard by judges whenever possible.

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Legislative history

Amended by Stats. 2010, Ch. 690, Sec. 2. (AB 2763) Effective January 1, 2011.