After almost a year of mandated closures for all superior courts statewide in California on the third Wednesday of each month, the mandatory once-a-month court closures are slated to end on Wednesday, June 16, 2010 before the start of the new 2010-2011 fiscal year on July 1.
For employers performing background checks involving California screening of criminal records, the closures lead to occasional delays.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that the San Diego Superior Court and the 4th District Court of Appeal will no longer close for one day each month and will be open on the third Wednesday of the month, at least in July and August. However, officials warn that court employees still may be required to take one unpaid day off per month and that the court closures could resume later in the year, the Union-Tribune reported.
For fiscal year 2009-2010, the Judicial Council of California recommended closing all courts throughout the state for one business day per month for 10 months of the fiscal year in an effort to save over $80 million dollars for the cash-strapped state. The closures were treated as court holidays, meaning that:
The court closure days would not affect statutory deadlines for trials and other hearings.
The court closure days would not affect computing the time to file documents.
Meanwhile, the San Bernardino Sun reports court closure days in courts across San Bernardino County could end this month after $100 million was restored to the state judiciary’s budget but that court officials won’t know for sure whether the closure days are completely finished until the state’s budget is passed by the California Legislature.
Elements of the 2010-2011 judicial budget are currently being reviewed and the state’s budget is usually not adopted before the next fiscal year begins July 1, the Sun reports.
To stay informed about the latest news on the California court closures, visit Employment Screening Resources (ESR) at http://www.esrcheck.com .
Sources:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/jun/07/monthly-court-closures-may-end-in-july/
http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/jc/documents/reports/072909item3.pdf
