Description: In 2018 the Legislature passed Senate Bill 1391 (Lara; Stats. 2018, ch. 1012), which amended Welfare and Institutions Code section 707 to provide that a minor must be at least 16 years of age to be considered for transfer of jurisdiction to criminal court unless the individual for whom transfer is sought was 14 or 15 at the time of the offense, the offense is listed in section 707(b), and the individual was not apprehended until after the end of juvenile court jurisdiction. The Judicial Council took action to implement these age-related changes in the jurisdiction of the juvenile court in 2019, but revoked that action when a split of authority within the California Courts of Appeal arose as to whether these changes were enacted in a constitutional manner. That split was resolved by the California Supreme Court in 2021 in favor of the constitutionality of the legislation. Additionally, legislation was enacted in 2021 to provide an expedited review on the merits from an order granting a motion to transfer. The Appellate Advisory Committee and the Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee propose adopting a new rule of court, amending several other rules, and revising two forms pertaining to the transfer-of-jurisdiction process and juvenile appeals to reflect both legislative changes to the transfer statutes.
Category: Family and Juvenile
Item Number: SPR22-14
Deadline: May 13, 2022
File: spr22-14.pdf
Description: The Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee proposes that the Judicial Council amend three rules and adopt, approve, and revise Judicial Council forms, effective January 1, 2023, to finalize the implementation of Assembly Bill 153 (Stats. 2021, ch. 86). AB 153 implements part IV of the federal Family First Prevention Services Act, which requires participating states to create a process of judicial review for each placement of a foster youth in a congregate care placement. This is the second time the proposal is circulating for public comment. The proposal initially circulated for public comment in spring 2021, before AB 153 was signed into law. Additional requirements created by AB 153 for status review hearings that were not addressed in the previous proposal are incorporated into this proposal.
Category: Family and Juvenile
Item Number: SPR22-13
Deadline: May 13, 2022
File: spr22-13.pdf
Description: The Civil and Small Claims Advisory Committee and the Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee jointly propose revising six forms to comply with the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act and reflect the act’s current title and legal citation. The proposed revisions are intended to address concerns by judicial officers that the act requires, but the forms do not include, a declaration as to how the petitioner/plaintiff ascertained the respondent’s/defendant’s nonmilitary status before requesting entry of judgment by way of default in the legal proceeding. The joint proposal would ensure that any changes to civil and family law forms are consistent to the extent appropriate.
Category: Family and Juvenile
Item Number: SPR22-12
Deadline: May 13, 2022
File: spr22-12.pdf
Description: In 2020 the Legislature passed Assembly Bill 627 (Stats. 2021, ch. 58),1 Judicial Council–sponsored legislation that added section 2611 to the Family Code and revised various provisions of the Tribal Court Civil Money Judgment Act found in the Code of Civil Procedure. The provisions ensure that divorce or dissolution judgments issued by tribal courts that include division of pension assets are effective and, in particular, are recognized as meeting the requirements of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). AB 627 mandated that the Judicial Council adopt forms to implement the legislation.
Category: Family and Juvenile
Item Number: SPR22-11
Deadline: May 13, 2022
File: spr22-11.pdf
Description: The Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee proposes the adoption of one new rule of court and a new confidential cover sheet, effective January 1, 2023, to comply with the mandate of Family Code section 7643.5, added by Assembly Bill 429 (Stats. 2021, ch. 52). The new form would be used by the petitioner to identify that the action or proceeding initially filed with the court to determine a parental relationship involves assisted reproduction under Family Code section 7613 or 7630(f), or sections 7960–7962, and provide information regarding the limitations on access to documents in such actions.
Category: Family and Juvenile
Item Number: SPR22-10
Deadline: May 13, 2022
File: spr22-10.pdf
Description: The Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee proposes amending four rules of court and revising three forms to comply with Senate Bill 654 (Stats. 2021, ch. 768). The bill amended Family Code section 3011 by extending the requirement that a court state its reasons when granting sole or joint custody to someone despite allegations of abuse or substance abuse against that person to orders granting unsupervised visitation to someone against whom there are allegations of abuse or substance abuse. The bill also amended Family Code section 3042 regarding child testimony to prohibit allowing the child to testify in front of the parties unless specific findings are made and to require that certain court professionals provide notice if a child changed their choice about addressing the court.
Category: Family and Juvenile
Item Number: SPR22-09
Deadline:
File: spr22-09.pdf
Description: The Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee recommends repealing one rule and amending three rules of the California Rules of Court, adopting seven forms, and revising seven current forms, to conform to recent statutory changes enacted by Senate Bill 1141 (Rubio; Stats. 2020, ch. 248) and Senate Bill 374 (Min; Stats. 2021, ch. 135) regarding the definition of “disturbing the peace” in restraining order cases; and to conform to recent statutory changes enacted by Senate Bill 320 (Eggman; Stats. 2021, ch. 685) and Assembly Bill 1057 (Petrie-Norris; Stats. 2021, ch. 682) regarding firearms and ammunition prohibitions. The proposal will also provide separate application and order forms relating to restraining orders against a juvenile, and includes one new proof of service form to ensure the juvenile restraining orders are entered into the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (CLETS) database. At the same time, the committee proposes converting the forms to plain-language forms, so they are consistent with other restraining order forms and are easier to understand, complete, and enforce.
Category: Family and Juvenile
Item Number: SPR22-24
Deadline: May 13, 2022
File: spr22-24.pdf
Description: Summary: The Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee proposes that the Judicial Council adopt a rule of court to implement Welfare and Institutions Code section 875(h), which requires the council to develop and adopt a matrix of offense-based classifications to be used by all juvenile courts when setting baseline terms for youth whose disposition is a commitment to a Secure Youth Treatment Facility (SYTF). The statute calls for the matrix to assign a baseline term of years to each offense for which a youth can be committed to an SYTF. The offenses are to be grouped into offense categories that are linked to a standard baseline term of years for each offense category. The statute was recently amended to allow the standard term to be a range of years as designated by the council. The proposed matrix in the rule would include four total offense categories, and each category is assigned a range of years as the standard baseline term. To assist the court in determining a baseline term for each youth within the range, the rule sets forth criteria for the court to weigh in making its decision. Deadline: Comments must be submitted by Friday, November 4, 2022 at, 5:00 PM (Pacific Time)
Category: Family and Juvenile
Item Number: SP22-14
Deadline: November 4, 2022
File: sp22-14.pdf
Description: Summary: The Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee proposes adopting three rules of court, amending four rules of court, and repealing one rule of court, as well as approving one optional form, revising eight forms, and revoking one form to reflect the closure of the Department of Juvenile Justice and create new procedures to assist courts in using the new secure youth treatment facility disposition. These revisions would become effective on July 1, 2023, to align with the closure of the Division of Juvenile Justice on June 30, 2023. Deadline: Comments must be submitted by Friday, January 20, 2023 at, 5:00 PM (Pacific Time)
Category: Family and Juvenile
Item Number: W23-07
Deadline: January 20, 2023
File: w23-07.pdf
Description: Summary: The Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee proposes the adoption of three mandatory forms and the approval of two optional forms to be used to petition the juvenile court for termination of sex offender registration for persons required to register as sex offenders as a result of a juvenile adjudication and commitment to the Division of Juvenile Justice. All five forms are adapted from existing forms that were approved by the council for use in criminal courts and became effective July 1, 2021. Deadline: Comments must be submitted by Friday, January 20, 2023 at, 5:00 PM (Pacific Time)
Category: Family and Juvenile
Item Number: W23-08
Deadline: January 20, 2023
File: w23-08.pdf