SECTIONS 70311-70313 - California Statutes

GOVERNMENT CODE

SECTION 70311-70313

70311. (a) Commencing July 1, 1997, and each year thereafter, no
county or city and county is responsible to provide funding for
"court operations," as defined in Section 77003 and Rule 10.810 of
the California Rules of Court, as it read on January 1, 2007.
(b) Except as provided in Section 70312, commencing as of July 1,
1996, and each year thereafter, each county or city and county shall
be responsible for providing necessary and suitable facilities for
judicial and court support positions created prior to July 1, 1996.
In determining whether facilities are necessary and suitable, the
reasonable needs of the court and the fiscal condition of the county
or city and county shall be taken into consideration.
(c) If a county or city and county fails to provide necessary and
suitable facilities as described in subdivision (b), the court shall
give notice of a specific deficiency. If the county or city and
county then fails to provide necessary and suitable facilities
pursuant to this section, the court may direct the appropriate
officers of the county or city and county to provide the necessary
and suitable facilities. The expenses incurred, certified by the
judges to be correct, are a charge against the county or city and
county treasury and shall be paid out of the general fund.
(d) Prior to the construction of new court facilities or the
alteration, remodeling, or relocation of existing court facilities, a
county or city and county shall solicit the review and comment of
the judges of the court affected regarding the adequacy and standard
of design, and that review and comment shall not be disregarded
without reasonable grounds.
(e) Any reference in the statutes enacted prior to January 1,
2003, that refers to Section 68073 shall be deemed to refer to this
section.

70312. If responsibility for court facilities is transferred from
the county to the Judicial Council pursuant to this chapter, the
county is relieved of any responsibility under Section 70311 for
providing those facilities. The county is also relieved of any
responsibility for deferred or ongoing maintenance for the facility
transferred, except for the county facilities payment required by
Section 70353. Except as otherwise provided by this chapter, or by
the agreement between the Judicial Council and the county under this
chapter, the Judicial Council shall have ongoing responsibility for
providing trial court facilities. If responsibility for all court
facilities within a county has been transferred pursuant to this
chapter, that county shall have no responsibility for providing court
facilities. This section does not relieve a county of its obligation
under Article 5 (commencing with Section 70351) or its obligations
under any agreement entered into pursuant to this chapter.

70313. This chapter may not be construed as authorizing a county, a
city and county, a court, the Judicial Council, or the state to
supply to the official reporters of the courts stenography,
stenotype, or other shorthand machines, or as authorizing the supply
to the official reporters of the courts, for use in the preparation
of transcripts, of typewriters, transcribing equipment, supplies, or
other personal property. The enactment of this provision is a
statement of existing law under former subdivision (f) of Section
68073 and is not a modification of the prior law.