Section 72010 Of Article 1. General Provisions From California Government Code >> Title 8. >> Chapter 8. >> Article 1.
72010
. (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.