Judicial Council of California

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The Judicial Council of California (JCC) sets and administers policy for the entire state court system in California. The JCC is authorized by Section 6 of Article VI of the California Constitution. It was established in 1926. The council typically meets in San Francisco, with occasional meetings in Sacramento.

The JCC administers its policies through its staff, formerly known as the Administrative Office of the Courts. The main office of its staff is in San Francisco, though it also maintains offices in Sacramento and Burbank.

Membership

The membership of the Judicial Council consists of:

• the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court;
• one other justice of the California Supreme Court;
• three judges chosen from the California Courts of Appeal;
• ten judges chosen from the California Superior Courts;
• two court administrators, who do not have a vote;
• other non-voting members, as may be determined from time-to-time by the voting membership of the council;
• four members appointed by the California State Bar's governing body for three-year terms; and
• one member of each house of the California state legislature, appointed by those chambers.

Powers

Office of the JCC in San Francisco

• The JCC sets policy and allocates funds for the court system in California. The JCC also appoints an administrative director who oversees the staff. The staff implements policy and supports the day-to-day operations of the Judicial Council, the California Supreme Court and the appellate and trial courts.

• Judges in California are required by a ballot proposition that was approved in 1998 to "report to the council as the Chief Justice directs concerning the condition of judicial business in their courts. They shall cooperate with the council and hold court as assigned."

History

Seal of the Judicial Council of California

The Judicial Council was established through an amendment to the California Constitution that was passed by ballot initiative in 1926. The ballot argument in favor of the proposition stated:

“	One of the troubles with our court system is that the work of the various courts is not correlated, and nobody is responsible for seeing that the machinery of the courts is working smoothly. When it is discovered that some rule of procedure is not working well, it is nobody’s business to see that the evil is corrected. But with a judicial council, whenever anything goes wrong any judge or lawyer or litigant or other citizen will know to whom to make complaint, and it will be the duty of the council to propose a remedy…	”
—Sen. M.B. Johnson, Eleventh District

The position of administrative director was established through a court rule by the JCC in 1960, and the staff agency, originally called the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), was established by a court rule in 1962. Before its establishment, the JCC did not have a formal staff structure and was run by council members aided by the Supreme Court's staff.

Contact information

Judicial Council of California
455 Golden Gate Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94102-3688
Phone: 415-865-4200
Fax: 415-865-4586
TTY Line: 415-865-8004

See also

• Courts in California
• California Supreme Court

External links

• Judicial Council of California

Footnotes

California courts

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Federal courts:

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Central District of California, Eastern District of California, Northern District of California, Southern District of California • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Central District of California, Eastern District of California, Northern District of California, Southern District of California

State courts:

California Supreme Court • California Courts of Appeal • California Superior Courts

State resources:

Courts in California • California judicial elections • Judicial selection in California