Section 68609 Of Article 5. The Trial Court Delay Reduction Act From California Government Code >> Title 8. >> Chapter 2. >> Article 5.
68609
. (a) The presiding judge of each superior court with an
exemplary delay reduction program shall assign a pro rata share of
new cases, and an appropriate number of existing cases, to the
program, and these cases shall thereafter be handled by the judges of
the program for all purposes.
(b) Juvenile, probate, and domestic relations cases shall not be
assigned to an exemplary delay reduction program, and cases which
have been assigned to a judge or judges for all purposes based on
subject matter need not be assigned to the program.
(c) No case shall be removed from an exemplary delay reduction
program because of a challenge filed under Section 170.6 of the Code
of Civil Procedure.
(d) In order to enforce the requirements of an exemplary delay
reduction program and orders issued in cases assigned to it, the
judges of the program shall have all the powers to impose sanctions
authorized by law, including the power to dismiss actions or strike
pleadings, if it appears that less severe sanctions would not be
effective after taking into account the effect of previous sanctions
or previous lack of compliance in the case. Judges are encouraged to
impose sanctions to achieve the purposes of this article.
(e) This section shall cease to be operative on July 1, 1992.