(a) Any person shall have the right to obtain the following information under Rule 10.802 of the California Rules of Court:
(1) Baseline budget information that superior courts submit to the Administrative Office of the Courts after enactment of the annual Budget Act.
(2) Any other budget and expenditure document of the superior court pertaining to the administrative operation of the court, including baseline budgets, quarterly financial statements, reports of revenues, reports of reserves, however classified, and their classification, and any document projecting or documenting savings due to unfilled positions and savings resulting from temporarily closing a court.
(3) Budgeted employee salary and benefit information by position classification consisting of the number of employees and compensation by classification, and any document, whether prepared periodically or for a special purpose, that shows any changes in salaried positions by classification available pursuant to subdivision (k) of Rule 10.802 of the California Rules of Court.
(4) Copies of executed contracts with outside vendors and payment information and policies concerning services provided by outside vendors without an executed contract. Any material provided under this paragraph shall be redacted as necessary in accordance with subdivision (i) of Rule 10.802 of the California Rules of Court.
(5) Any final audit report.
(b) If the information requested pursuant to subdivision (a) has been certified by the superior court, copies of the certified documents shall be provided.
(c) The provisions of Rule 10.803 of the California Rules of Court shall apply to any petition arising under this section.
(d) Subdivision (a) shall not apply to information that is part of the deliberative process or adjudicative process unless that information is otherwise made public.
(e) Subdivision (a) shall only apply to information that has already been created or prepared by, or in the possession of, the court, and does not require a court to produce or create any new document or data format to comply with its provisions. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to prevent or limit a court from, in its discretion, producing or creating a new document or data format, or otherwise providing additional information.
(f) Nothing in subdivision (a) is intended to limit or restrict public access to other information that may be obtained under Rule 10.802 of the California Rules of Court. Nothing in this section is intended to limit or restrict public access to any information provided for by any statute, rule, or case law.
(g) The Judicial Council shall, on or before January 1, 2010, adopt rules of court that provide public access to nondeliberative or nonadjudicative court records, budget and management information.
(h) This section shall remain in effect until the rules of court providing public access to nondeliberative or nonadjudicative court records, budget and management information are adopted pursuant to subdivision (g).
(Added by Stats. 2009, 4th Ex. Sess., Ch. 22, Sec. 5. Effective July 28, 2009. Inoperative on or before January 1, 2010, pursuant to subds. (g) and (h).)
Last modified: October 25, 2018