Article 1. General Provisions of California Government Code >> Title 8. >> Chapter 8. >> Article 1.

Sections 24350 to 24356, inclusive, and Sections 29350 and 29351 apply to officers of superior courts and to the disposition of fees collected by those officers.

(a) On or before July 1, 2011, and periodically thereafter as appropriate, the Judicial Council shall enter into one or more master agreements with a vendor or vendors to provide for telephone appearances in civil cases under Section 367.5 of the Code of Civil Procedure or as otherwise authorized by law.
  (b) Each master agreement shall include the following:
  (1) The amount of the fees to be paid by a party for a telephone appearance.
  (2) The amounts to be deposited in the Trial Court Trust Fund described in Section 72011.
  (3) A requirement that the vendor submit a quarterly report setting forth the number of fees collected, number of liens established, and the amount collected from previously waived fees pursuant to Section 367.6 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
  (4) A statement that the vendor shall indemnify and hold the court harmless from claims arising from a failure or interruption of services.
  (5) Other terms as the Judicial Council deems appropriate, including, but not limited to, the services and equipment to be provided by vendors to the courts and the assistance to be provided by vendors to callers.
  (c) A court may make telephone appearances available to a party only through one or more of the following methods:
  (1) An agreement with one or more of the vendors under the master agreements provided by this section.
  (2) An agreement entered into between a court and a vendor prior to July 1, 2011, and which has not expired. If a contract is subject to cancellation by a court after July 1, 2011, that court shall exercise its option to cancel the contract as soon after July 1, 2011, as is legally possible to do so.
  (3) Direct provision by the court of telephone appearance services to a party. If the court provides the services directly, the court shall collect the fees for telephone appearances adopted by the Judicial Council in accordance with Section 367.6 of the Code of Civil Procedure and the master agreement or agreements entered into pursuant to this section. A judicial officer may, in his or her discretion, waive telephone appearance fees for parties appearing directly by telephone in that judicial officer's courtroom.

(a) For each fee received for providing telephone appearance services, each vendor or court that provides for appearances by telephone shall transmit twenty dollars ($20) to the State Treasury for deposit in the Trial Court Trust Fund established pursuant to Section 68085. If the vendor or court receives a portion of the fee as authorized under paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 367.6 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the vendor or court shall transmit only the proportionate share of the amount required under this section. This section shall apply regardless of whether the Judicial Council has established the statewide uniform fee pursuant to Section 367.6 of the Code of Civil Procedure, or entered into one or more master agreements pursuant to Section 72010 of this code. This section shall not apply when a vendor or court does not receive a fee.
  (b) The amounts described in subdivision (a) shall be transmitted within 15 days after the end of each calendar quarter for fees collected in that quarter.
  (c) Vendors shall also transmit an amount equal to the total amount of revenue received by all courts from all vendors for providing telephonic appearances for the 2009-10 fiscal year.
  (d) The amount set forth in subdivision (c) shall be apportioned by the Judicial Council among the vendors with which the Judicial Council has a master agreement pursuant to Section 72010. Within 15 days of receiving notice from the Judicial Council of its apportioned amount, each vendor shall transmit that amount to the State Treasury for deposit in the Trial Court Trust Fund.
  (e) The Judicial Council shall allocate the amount collected pursuant to subdivisions (c) and (d) for the purpose of preventing significant disruption in services in courts that previously received revenues from vendors for providing telephone appearance services. The Judicial Council shall determine the method and amount of the allocation to each eligible court.