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SEPTEMBER MEETING
Our next meeting will be held on Thursday, September
16, 2004, at noon at Casa de Sapore (formerly Pietro's). The
address is 929 Court Street in Woodland. The program will
be a presentation on plans for a new courthouse by Yolo Superior
Court Executive Officer James B. Perry and Assistant Court
Executive Officer Shawn Landry.
PLEASE RSVP TO LISA LANCE (llance@yolocounty.org)
SO THAT WE CAN GIVE THE RESTAURANT AS ACCURATE A COUNT AS
POSSIBLE.
The Yolo County Bar Association has been approved
as a provider of Minimum Continuing Legal Education by the
State Bar of California. This program will provide one (1)
hour of MCLE credit. (And any subspecialty credit, if appropriate.)
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CONGRATULATIONS TO ALEXANDRA FULLERTON
Member Alexandra Fullerton reports that she
is now a certified specialist in family law. Congratulations
to Alexandra!
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THANKS!
Thanks to everyone who took a shift at the bar
association's booth at the County Fair!
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INFORMATION FROM YOLO COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT
Recently, there has been confusion about Yolo
Superior Court's policy regarding the transportation of files
and file-stamped documents between departments. The court
would like to take this opportunity to clarify and explain
its policy.
The official policy of Yolo Superior Court
is that only court staff may transport file-stamped documents
and files from one department to another. The court's policy
comports with the Rules of Court and Government Code. Any
other practice would violate Rule of Court 243(a) and could,
in a worst case scenario, subject court employees to prosecution
under Government Code § 6200.
Rule of Court 243(a) states that filed documents
may only be "released to a court officer or attaché for use
in a court facility." Rule 243 does not define the phrase
"court officer or attaché." As used peripherally in California
case law, the phrase "court officer or attaché" means court
employees and affiliated workers such as court reporters and
security personnel. It does not include attorneys. (Rosato
v. Superior Court (1975) 51 Cal.App.3d 190, 203 (referring
separately to "attorneys" and 'court attaches or employees';
Rosato at 210 (referring to a court reporter as an "officer
or attache" of the court); In re Farr (1974) 36 Cal.App.3d
577 (referring separately to "attorneys for the parties, court
attaches and witnesses") Oxnard Publishing Co. v. Superior
Court (1968) 68 Cal.Rptr. 83, (referring separately to "all
parties, lawyers, agents, court officers, and attaches) Villanazul
v. City of Los Angeles (1951) 37 Cal.2d 718 (referring to
municipal court deputy marshals and clerks as "court officers
or attaches"); Bell v. Board of Supervisors (1975) 47 Cal.App.3d
851(referring to municipal court clerks, deputy clerks and
marshals as 'court officers and attaches'.)
Government Code § 6200 makes it a felony for
court employees to "willfully" steal, remove or secrete a
court document or permit another person to do so. A public
employee who "knowingly" removes a document from an official
record or permits another to do so is punishable even if he
or she acted without a criminal purpose. (Loder v. Municipal
Court (1976) 17 Cal.3d 859, 863-864.)
In conclusion, the court's policy of allowing
only court staff to transport documents from department to
another is designed to keep the court in compliance with the
applicable rules and statutes. It is not intended as a sign
of disfavor with, or distrust of, the local bar. Court staff
will work hard to ensure that all court files and documents
arrive in a timely manner in the department where they are
needed. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact
the court's administrative office at 666-8586.
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INFORMATION FROM SACRAMENTO COUNTY SUPERIOR
COURT
Senate Bill 1102 was signed as urgency legislation
on August 16, 2004. This bill, in part, revised State of California
Government Code Section 69957 to clarify the use of electronic
recording equipment in court proceedings. As part of the Superior
Court of California, County of Sacramento's efforts to comply
with this law:
- All proceedings in Departments 53
and 54 will continue to be electronically recorded for the
court's internal use.
- Until further notice, transcripts
and tape reproductions will not be available for parties
in any unlimited civil proceeding that is electronically
recorded in Departments 53 and 54. This applies only to
proceedings that occur on or after September 1, 2004.
- Transcripts and tape reproductions
will continue to be available for parties, at the parties'
expense, in any limited civil action that is electronically
recorded.
- Departments 53 and 54 are not normally
staffed with a court reporter. Parties desiring an official
record of an unlimited civil proceeding held in a Department
53 and 54 shall make arrangements for reporting services
with the court not later than 4:30 p.m. the day before the
hearing. Parties may do so by:
- Contacting the Court Reporter's
Office at (916) 874-5781.
- If a proceeding is expected to
last more than one hour, payment of any required fees
must be made prior to the start of the hearing at the
Law and Motion counter located at 800 9th Street, 1st
Floor.
- If the court is unable to provide
the services of an official court reporter, a party may
arrange for the presence of a certified shorthand reporter
to serve as an official pro tempore reporter, pursuant to
California Rules of Court, rules 890 and 891.
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PUBLIC NOTICE - CIVIL CASES
Accelerated Civil Trial (ACT) Case Conversion
to Case Management Program (CMP)
The Judicial Council established the Case Management
Program (CMP) by Rules of Court effective January 1, 2003.
Those Rules of Court also require that the existing ACT Program
be phased out.
Accordingly the Superior Court of Sacramento
County has adopted new Local Rules of Court that will eliminate
the ACT Program, effective July 1, 2004, and provide for the
conversion of all ACT cases to the CMP Program.
In all cases previously assigned to the Accelerated
Civil Trial (ACT) Program, the parties are required to file
Request Forms to set Case Management Conferences, except as
provided in Local rule 11.00.
The necessary request forms for case management
conversion and additional information regarding the Case Management
Program may be obtained in person at the front counter in
Room 102 of the Gordon D. Schaber Courthouse located at 720
9th Street in Sacramento, California, or on the Court's website
(www.saccourt.com), or by calling
(916) 874-6868.
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NEWSLETTER SUBMISSIONS
If you wish to submit information for inclusion
in the October newsletter, please contact Courtenay McKeon
at (530) 666-8254 or cmckeon@yolocourts.com
by 5pm on Thursday, October 7.
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