Judicial Council budget proposes 23 new judges

Are more judges on the way?

The Judicial Council of California approved a package of budget and legislative priorities for the year on Friday, including 23 new positions on the bench.

Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye began the meeting on an upbeat note. She called the proposed $5.2 billion combined operational and facilities courts budget "the largest ever," with "$890.6 million in new funding."

"We all continue to grapple with the pandemic ... but this new year begins with something positive with Gov. Newsom's proposed budget," she said.

The Legislature funded 50 new positions in 2007, just before the financial crisis cratered the judicial branch budget. A report for Friday's meeting detailed years of failed efforts to get funding for these positions. It also noted the Legislature gave permission that same year to convert 162 subordinate judicial officer positions to judgeships, but the report noted "only 5" of these slots remain.

The proposed budget sets aside $42.3 million to fund 23 new judgeships.

"It's 23 judges and comes in the form of about $39 or $40 million for staff to actually staff out those positions to make them real and to make them operational," said Judicial Council Administrative Director Martin Hoshino.

Monterey County Superior Court Judge Marla O. Anderson, who chairs the council's legislative committee, said the new positions "will be allocated to the courts with the greatest needs." She said the council will also seek to convert the five remaining commissioner positions to judgeships this year.

According to the Judicial Council's 2020 Judicial Needs Assessment, the most recent year available, the courts with the greatest needs remain Riverside and San Bernardino.

Hoshino detailed several other enhancements in the budget proposal, such as $100 million for equal access, $85 million for cost of operating adjustments pegged to the consumer price index, and money to backfill declining revenues for fines and fees.