Courts, judicial emergencies.

Existing law authorizes a presiding judge to request the Chairperson of the Judicial Council to authorize the court to transfer cases to an adjacent county, hold sessions in other parts of the county, extend specified time periods, and declare judicial holidays, among other emergency responses, when war, insurrection, pestilence, or other public calamity, among other things, threatens the orderly operation of a superior court location or locations within a county. This bill would instead grant the judge that authority if war, an act of terrorism, public unrest or calamity, epidemic, natural disaster, or other substantial risk to the health and welfare of court personnel or the public, or the danger thereof, threatens the orderly operation of a superior court location or locations within a county or renders presence in, or access to, an affected court facility or facilities unsafe. The bill would also extend this authorization when a condition leads to a state of emergency being proclaimed by the President of the United States or by the Governor. The bill would allow for the transfer of cases to be made to a superior court in any county, to a court in an adjacent county, or to a superior court within 100 miles of the border of the county in which the court impacted by the emergency is situated, as specified. Existing law requires that a civil action be brought to trial within 5 years after the action is commenced against the defendant. Existing law requires that if a new trial is granted, the action be brought to trial within 3 years. This bill would allow those time periods to be extended for the fewest days necessary under the circumstances of an emergency, as determined by the Chairperson of the Judicial Council. The bill would specify that the Chairperson of the Judicial Council is not precluded from granting further extensions upon making a renewed determination that circumstances warranting relief continue to exist.