Courts in California
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Courts in California include the three courts of California's state court system, four federal district courts, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which is based in San Francisco.
State courts
The main state courts are:
- The California Supreme Court, the state's court of last resort, which has seven justices.
- The California Courts of Appeal
- The California Superior Courts. These are California's trial courts. They conduct all original trials in the state, except in cases where the appellate level courts have original jurisdiction. Up until 1998, most of California's 58 counties had their own county court system. The passage of Proposition 220 in 1998 changed that, allowing the superior and municipal courts in a county to consolidate their operations if a majority of the superior court and municipal court judges in the county agreed to the consolidation. Under the terms of the proposition, if a consolidation was agreed to, the county's municipal courts would be abolished and all municipal court judges and employees would become superior court judges and employees.[1]
Court administration
The entire state court system in California is administered by the California Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), which is an agency under the control of the Judicial Council of California. The AOC's main office is located in San Francisco. The AOC also maintains three three regional offices.
William C. Vickrey is the Administrative Director of the Courts. Ronald G. Overholt is the AOC's Chief Deputy Director.
The agency is organized into nine divisions in San Francisco, one division in Sacramento, and three regional offices. The AOC has more than 900 employees.
Judicial Council
The Judicial Council of California (CJC) makes policy for the entire California state court system. The CJC implements the decisions it makes through its agency, the California Administrative Office of the Courts.
The Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court is by law the chair of the Judicial Council. Ronald M. George, having been the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court since 1996, has exerted a strong influence on how the CJC and the AOC are run.
Budget woes and court closings
In 2009, the California state court system absorbed a 10% budget cut totalling $414 million, which led to mandatory court closings throughout the 59-county Superior Court system of one day a month.[2][2]
Federal courts
The four federal district courts in California are the United States District Court for the Central District of California, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California and the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. In addition, San Francisco is home to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which hears appeals from the following District courts:
See also
References
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