Sale of the West Los Angeles Courthouse.

Existing law authorizes the Judicial Council to dispose of surplus court facilities pursuant to a specified process that requires, among other things, the Judicial Council to consult with the county where the court facility is located, offer the facility to the county at a fair market value before offering it to another state agency or local government agency, and deposit the funds received from a sale into the State Court Facilities Construction Fund. The process further requires the Judicial Council, if the court facility was previously the responsibility of a county, to comply with certain requirements applicable to the sale of surplus state property. Existing law establishes the Immediate and Critical Needs Account of the State Court Facilities Construction Fund, for the planning, design, construction, rehabilitation, renovation, replacement, or acquisition of court facilities and for trial court operations, as defined. The California Constitution requires the proceeds from the sale of surplus state property to be deposited into the Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties, a continuously appropriated fund. This bill would, notwithstanding any other law, specifically authorize the Judicial Council to sell the West Los Angeles Courthouse, as specified, and the Mental Health Courthouse, as described, if the sale complies with certain requirements applicable to the disposal of court facilities and if the Judicial Council consults with, and first offers the right to purchase the property to, the County of Los Angeles. The bill would require the net proceeds from the sale of the courthouse to be deposited into the Immediate and Critical Needs Account of the State Court Facilities Construction Fund. The bill would state that the disposition of this property is not a sale or other disposition of surplus state property within the meaning of the California Constitution. The bill would include a statement of legislative intent in support of its provisions. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.