LA Superior Court has told SEIU 721 it plans to rehire 71 court staff laid off in March due to budget cuts.

On September 16, Ventura Court employees represented by SEIU 721 signed an agreement that protects court employees' rights and helps us move forward together to protect court services.

Ventura County Superior Court employees haven't been getting the full story.

$175 to empty an ashtray. $2,166 to fix five smoke detectors. $8,000 to scrape gum off four feet of sidewalk. Those are some of the maintenance charges from companies on contract with California's court system -- and all were approved by the Administrative Office of the Courts, which oversees court budgets.

Legislators exposed the inflated costs at a hearing about government accountability in Sacramento on August 11.

LA court reporter Rose Nava was there, and she said the committee took its watchdog role seriously.

"The maintenance companies have taken advantage of the rubber-stamping of the AOC," she said. "Nobody has been watching them."

"Hopefully now that they are being watched, we will either switch to new maintenance companies or they will stop super-inflating their costs."

LA Superior Court is back to full time status as the court announced an end to furloughs starting in August. July 21 is the last furlough day.

The monthly furloughs caused delays in document processing for child support and divorces and created long lines for the public.

"I'm extremely happy the furloughs are over and we're back assisting the public full-time. But we still have to restore the courts to full capacity," said Charlotte Ramos, CSA III at Stanley Mosk in downtown LA.

California court administrators have fired the whistleblower who last year exposed their poor oversight of multimillion dollar contracts with private vendors.

Michael Paul, a senior technical analyst in the Administrative Office of the Courts' information services department, said he was told Friday, July 9, that he was being fired for reporting a possible bidding irregularity in a courthouse construction project to the wrong colleague.

"Whistleblower protections allow employees to come forward to report mismanagement of funds, misuse of authority, and most of all lack of accountability," said Linda Mascorro, an LA Superior Court employee and member of the SEIU 721 executive board. "The AOC has gotten away with not being accountable or transparent. They need to be reminded that they do not have an open checkbook."

Ted Rohrlich has the interview with former AOC employee Michael Paul at AccountableCalifornia.org. Click here to read now.

California court employees have also raised serious questions about misspending by the AOC, and they support AB 1749, which extends whistleblower protections to court employees. Click here to read more.

After a year of devastating layoffs and furloughs, solutions for California's beleaguered courts are being hammered out.

SEIU has been an active partner in negotiations with Assemblymember Feuer, the defense and plaintiffs bars, and judiciary officials to come up with an array of budget solutions.

The emerging plan would prevent further cuts and eliminate the need for furloughs through budget solutions totaling approximately $200 million, including:

• Adding an additional fee for first paper filings
• Setting a standard fee for telephone appearances
• Transferring construction funds and other available AOC funds to trial court operations

In his May budget revision, the Governor no longer proposed the $100 million cut he proposed in January; in addition, he proposed $60 million in court security fees.

However, the Governor is again proposing to replace court reporters with electronic recording.

"Our hard work to publicize the damage of court closures and layoffs changed the conversation in Sacramento. We still have a long fight ahead, but the emerging agreement is a positive start."

School districts have to open their budgets to the public. So do cities and counties. Now annual, independent audits may soon be the norm for California's multi-billion-dollar court system too.

Today a key legislative committee voted 9-0 for AB 2521, which will require independent audits of the Administrative Office of the Courts and local trial courts. The audits could flag mistakes before they are made, prevent abuse of funds and allow public debate about court spending priorities before court employees are laid off and courthouses closed to the public.

The committee also approved AB 1749, which creates whistleblower protections for AOC and court employees.

"Court employees and the public need to have confidence in the court system," said LA County Court Reporter Arnella Sims, who spoke before the committee vote. "There is a need for accountability and transparency regarding the precious finances of the judicial branch."

Why does accountability matter?

With open books and budgets, Los Angeles courts might not have laid off 329 people and closed courtrooms due to budget cuts. An independent audit of the Administrative Office of the Courts could have revealed reserve funds available to prevent these layoffs and court closures. And audits could help prevent more layoffs in the future.

San Mateo court administrators overlooked a $4 million deficit leading to dozens of layoffs and increasing backlogs that delay justice for crime victims and others who count on our courts. An independent audit could have found this mistake in time to prevent the layoffs.

"Without sensible, outside audits of the courts, mistakes can have serious consequences for families like mine," said San Mateo court worker Annette Ruiz Vides.

The Administrative Office of the Courts has spent nearly $2 billion on a computer system and costs have grown more than 35% without public oversight, according to the Daily Journal newspaper.

The Judicial Council called California courts' deficits "staggering" and said that available reserves should be used to keep courts functioning. But the report did not detail what funds were available.

Court closures, layoffs, lines, and backlogs.

California's trial courts are in sorry shape, and the public has suffered, but many believe this could have been prevented - if only the public and the legislature had known about all the available funds in our statewide court system.

Why didn't we know?

Because the administrative body that oversees courts, the Administrative Office of Courts (AOC) - unbelievably -- falls outside the jurisdiction of California's basic rules of good governance, including independent audit and financial oversight requirements.

It's time to change that and make sure that the AOC can't hide the ball anymore. Courts are for the public. Our tax dollars and fees fund them. It's time for the AOC and trial courts to receive rigorous, independent audits.

What you can do:

SEIU court employees are supporting AB 2521, which will require AOC and court audits. AB 2521 will be heard in committee on Tuesday, April 20.

To spread the word, share our video with your friends, along with a note about why you want more transparency and accountability in our court system.

By John Tanner
SEIU 721 Executive Director

Note: This blog post ran as an op-ed in the Daily Journal, one of California's leading legal newspapers, on Tuesday, April 6.

There's a bona-fide budget crisis hitting California's courts and Los Angeles' packed courthouses. Courtrooms are already closed one day a month, and that has backed up cases and limited access to justice for small businesses, families and the public at large.

Over the next three years, as much as 30 percent of the Los Angeles Superior Court system could shut down unless the state's funding priorities shift.

That's the picture court employees and officials, law enforcement, family advocates and many judges have been painting for more than a year.
 
Now even the Judicial Council finally is saying what the rest of us have known. A report released March 30 by the state courts' governing body said without immediate help the cuts to local courts will be "staggering."

"Courts will require additional funding to be able to avoid significant reductions in operations, including potentially substantial staff reductions and furloughs over the next three years," the report states.
 
Just last month, the cash-strapped Los Angeles Superior Court laid off 329 employees, cut document-processing services and shut down services for the public like the traffic-citation call center that assisted 2,000 people each month. Revenue generating services such as traffic and civil cases have been compromised. Justice is further delayed for families, crime victims and the 100,000 people who use Los Angeles courts every day.

Court employees and officials are asking the Judicial Council immediately to free up money, cancel this layoff and restore services to the public. 

SEIU 721 President Bob Schoonover issued the following statement in response to a report from the Judicial Council that recognizes the need for action to protect Los Angeles courts from devastating cuts. "The level of reductions facing LA Superior Court, like all other courts in the state, is staggering," the report stated. The report called for "funding solutions" including transferring money from court construction projects.

 

"A short time ago California's court leaders accused the Los Angeles Superior Court of being Chicken Little when it warned of major cuts to the judicial system. Now the Judicial Council and its administrative arm, the Administrative Office of the Courts, have finally acknowledged that the Los Angeles Superior Court and very likely other courts around the state are in dire straits."

"If this acknowledgment had come two months ago, we might have been able to prevent 329 layoffs and court closures that are causing justice in Los Angeles to deteriorate. L.A. Superior Court Judge McCoy has been raising the alarm for months and requested bridge funding in February.

"Now, the AOC and the L.A. court both acknowledge that the situation is critical. If Los Angeles loses 23% of its staff over the next three years, it's going to affect 100,000 people who use the courts every day.  The L.A. court projects those losses to be at 30%, based on real salary numbers rather than on the average numbers the AOC uses.

"But however you look at the numbers, the problem is indeed 'staggering' and it's not going away. The AOC now concedes that every possible step must be taken, including using construction funds, to keep courts open for the public across California. This is what SEIU, law enforcement officers, children's advocates, and local judges have spent the last 6 months fighting for.

"We hope California court leaders look not just at one-time fixes but ongoing and comprehensive solutions to our courts' financial crisis. "
 
"And we hope they move immediately to embrace the oversight and accountability that could have delivered independent analysis and action much more swiftly. That's why we are supporting a bill, AB 2521, that will require a truly independent look at both local courts' and the AOC's books."