California Proposition 91, Justice Courts Are Courts of Record (1988)

California Proposition 91 was on the November 8, 1988 statewide ballot in California as a legislatively-referred constitutional amendment, where it was approved.

Proposition 91 designated California's justice courts as courts of record. This change put the California State Legislature in a position to set the salaries and retirement benefits of judges who work at the justice courts.

Proposition 91 also set some minimum qualifications for being a judge in a justice court. Such judges were, after the enactment of Proposition 91, required to be attorneys and members of the State Bar for at least five years before they become judges.

Election results

Proposition 91
Result		Votes	Percentage
a Yes		5,966,766	70.6%
No		2,474,255	29.31%

Constitutional changes

California Constitution
Articles
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Proposition 91 amended Section 1 of Article VI, Section 15 of Article VI and Section 15.5 of Article VI of the California Constitution.

The changes to Section 15.5 were to be "operative only until January 1, 1995, and as of that date ... repealed."

Text of measure

Title

The ballot title was:

Justice Courts. Eligibility. Legislative Constitutional Amendment.

Summary

The official summary said:

"Amends the State Constitution to provide that justice courts are courts of record and that a person is ineligible to be a justice court judge unless the person has been a member of the State Bar or served as a judge of a court of record in California for five years immediately preceding selection. Makes changes operative on January 1, 1990. Exempts justice court judges who held office on January 1, 1988, from the 5-year membership or service requirement. Makes exemption operative only until January 1, 1995."

Fiscal impact

See also: Fiscal impact statement

The fiscal estimate provided by the California Legislative Analyst's Office said:

"By itself, this measure would have no direct fiscal effect, but would depend on actions taken by the Legislature to implement it. The counties affected by the measure would have costs or savings to the extent that legislative changes in the salaries and/or retirement benefits of justice court judges would differ from those the counties would otherwise have made."

Path to the ballot

The California State Legislature voted to put Proposition 91 on the ballot via Assembly Constitutional Amendment 12 (Statutes of 1988, Resolution Chapter 65).

Votes in legislature to refer to ballot
Chamber	Ayes	Noes
Assembly	73	0
Senate	30	0

External links

Suggest a link

• PDF of the November 8, 1988 ballot proposition voter guide
• California Law Library, November 8, 1988 ballot propositions
• Hastings California I&R database