AMENDMENTS TO THE CALIFORNIA RULES OF COURT Adopted by the Judicial Council on April 17, 2015, effective on January 1, 2016 Rule 10.603. Authority and duties of presiding judge 1 2 (a)–(b) * * * 3 4 (

c) Duties 5 6 (1)–(2) * * * 7 8

(3) Submitted cases 9 10 The presiding judge must supervise and monitor the number of causes under 11 submission before the judges of the court and ensure that no cause under 12 submission remains undecided and pending for longer than 90 days. As an 13 aid in accomplishing this goal, the presiding judge must: 14 15 (A)–(E) * * * 16 17 (

F) Consider requesting the services of the Administrative Office of the 18 Courts Judicial Council staff to review the court’s calendar 19 management procedures and make recommendations whenever either 20 of the following condition exists in the court for the most recent three 21 months: 22 23 (i)–(ii) * * * 24 25

(4) Oversight of judicial officers 26 27 The presiding judge must: 28 29 (A)–(B) * * * 30 31 (

C) Commissioners 32 33 (

i) Prepare and submit to the judges for consideration and adoption 34 procedures for receiving, inquiring into, and resolving complaints 35 lodged against court commissioners and referees subordinate 36 judicial officers, consistent with rule 10.703; and 37 38 (ii) Notify the Commission on Judicial Performance if a 39 commissioner or referee subordinate judicial officer is disciplined 40 or resigns, consistent with rule 10.703(k)(j). 41

1 (D) * * * 2 3 (

E) Assigned judges 4 5 For each assigned retired judge: 6 7 (i) * * * 8 9 (ii) Submit the form annually to the Administrative Director of the 10 Courts; 11 12 (iii) Direct complaints against the assigned judge to the Chief Justice, 13 by forwarding them to the attention of the Administrative 14 Director of the Courts, and provide requested information in 15 writing to the Administrative Director of the Courts in a timely 16 manner; and 17 18 (iv) * * * 19 20 (5)–(7) * * * 21 22

(8) Liaison 23 24 The presiding judge must: 25 26 (

A) Provide for liaison between the court and the Judicial Council, the 27 Administrative Office of the Courts Judicial Council staff, and other 28 governmental and civic agencies; 29 30 (B)–(C) * * * 31 32 (9)–(11) * * * 33 34 (Subd (

c) amended effective January 1, 2016; previously amended effective January 1, 35 2001, January 1, 2002, January 1, 2006, July 1, 2006, January 1, 2007, and July 1, 2010.) 36 37 (d) * * * 38 39 Rule 10.603 amended effective January 1, 2016; adopted as rule 6.603 effective January 1, 2001; 40 previously amended and renumbered effective January 1, 2007; previously amended effective 41 January 1, 2002, January 1, 2006, July 1, 2006, and July 1, 2010. 42

Rule 10.703. Subordinate judicial officers: complaints and notice requirements 1 2 (

a) Intent 3 4 The procedures in this rule for processing complaints against subordinate judicial 5 officers do not: 6 7 (1) * * * 8 9

(2) Change the existing employee-employer relationship between the subordinate 10 judicial officer and the court; or 11 12

(3) Change the status of a subordinate judicial officer from an employee 13 terminable at will to an employee terminable only for cause.; or 14 15

(4) Restrict the discretion of the presiding judge in taking appropriate corrective 16 action. 17 18 (Subd (

a) amended effective January 1, 2016; previously amended effective January 1, 19 2007.) 20 21 (

b) Definitions 22 23 Unless the context requires otherwise, the following

definitions apply to this rule: 24 25 (1) “Subordinate judicial officer” means an attorney employed by a court to 26 serve as a commissioner, or referee, or hearing officer, whether the attorney 27 is acting as a commissioner, referee, hearing officer, or temporary judge. The 28 term does not include any other attorney acting as a temporary judge. 29 30 (2)–(3) * * * 31 32 (4) “Written reprimand” means written disciplinary action that is warranted 33 either because of the seriousness of the misconduct or because previous 34 corrective action has been ineffective. 35 36 (Subd (

b) amended effective January 1, 2016.) 37 38 (

c) Application 39 40 (1) * * * 41 42

(2) If a complaint against a subordinate judicial officer as described in (

f) does 1 not allege conduct that would be within the jurisdiction of the commission, 2 the court must process the complaint following local procedures adopted 3 under rule 10.603(c)(4)(

C) apply. The local process may include any 4 procedures from this rule for the court’s adjudication of the complaint other 5 than the provisions for referring the matter to the commission under (

g) or 6 giving notice of commission review under (l) (k)(2)(B). 7 8 (3) * * * 9 10 (Subd (

c) amended effective January 1, 2016; previously amended effective July 1, 2002 11 and January 1, 2007.) 12 13 (d)–(e) * * * 14 15 (

f) Written complaints to presiding judge 16 17

(1) A complaint about the conduct of a subordinate judicial officer must be in 18 writing and must be submitted to the presiding judge. 19 20 (2) * * * 21 22

(3) The presiding judge has discretion to investigate complaints that are 23 anonymous. 24 25

(4) The presiding judge must give written notice of receipt of the complaint to 26 the complainant, if known. 27 28 (Subd (

f) amended effective January 1, 2016; previously amended effective January 1, 29 2007.) 30 31 (

g) Initial review of the complaint 32 33

(1) The presiding judge must review each complaint and determine if the 34 complaint: 35 36 (A) * * * 37 38 (

B) Needs preliminary investigation Requires investigation by the presiding 39 judge; or 40 41

(

C) Requires formal investigation Should be referred to the commission or 1 to the presiding judge of another court for investigation or for 2 investigation and adjudication. 3 4 (2) * * * 5 6

(3) In exceptional circumstances, a presiding judge may request the commission 7 or the presiding judge of another court to investigate a complaint on behalf of 8 the court and provide the results of the investigation to the court for action 9 adjudication. 10 11 (4) * * * 12 13 (Subd (

g) amended effective January 1, 2016; previously amended effective January 1, 14 2007.) 15 16 (

h) Closing a complaint after initial review 17 18

(1) After an preliminary initial review, the presiding judge may close without 19 further action any complaint that: 20 21 (A)–(B) * * * 22 23

(2) If the presiding judge decides to close the complaint under (h)(1), the 24 presiding judge must notify the complainant in writing of the decision to 25 close the investigation on the complaint. The notice must include the 26 information required under (l) (k). 27 28

(3) The presiding judge must may, in his or her discretion, advise the subordinate 29 judicial officer in writing of the disposition decision to close the complaint. 30 31 (Subd (

h) amended effective January 1, 2016; previously amended effective January 1, 32 2007.) 33 34 (

i) Complaints requiring preliminary investigation 35 36

(1) If after an initial review of the complaint the presiding judge finds a basis for 37 further inquiry, the presiding judge must conduct an preliminary investigation 38 appropriate to the nature of the complaint. 39 40 (2) * * * 41 42

(3) The presiding judge may give the subordinate judicial officer a copy of the 1 complaint or a

summary of its allegations and allow him or her an 2 opportunity to respond to the allegations during the investigation. The 3 presiding judge must give the subordinate judicial officer a copy of the 4 complaint or a

summary of its allegations and allow the subordinate judicial 5 officer an opportunity to respond to the allegations before the presiding judge 6 decides to takes appropriate informal any disciplinary action as described in 7 (i)(4)(

B) against the subordinate judicial officer. 8 9

(4) After completing the preliminary investigation, the presiding judge must, in 10 his or her discretion: 11 12 (

A) Terminate the investigation and Close action on the complaint if the 13 presiding judge finds the complaint lacks merit; or 14 15 (

B) Terminate the investigation and close action on the complaint by taking 16 appropriate informal action, which may include a reprimand or warning 17 to the subordinate judicial officer, if the presiding judge finds a basis 18 for taking informal action Impose discipline; or 19 20 (

C) Proceed with a formal investigation under (

j) if the presiding judge 21 finds a basis for proceeding further. Take other appropriate corrective 22 action, which may include, but is not limited to, oral counseling, oral 23 reprimand, or warning of the subordinate judicial officer. 24 25

(5) If the presiding judge terminates the investigation and closes action on the 26 complaint, the presiding judge must: 27 28 (

A) Notify the complainant in writing of the decision to close the 29 investigation on the complaint. The notice must include the information 30 required under (l); and 31 32 (

B) Advise the subordinate judicial officer in writing of the disposition. 33 34 (

j) Complaints requiring formal investigation 35 36

(1) If after a preliminary investigation the presiding judge finds a basis for 37 proceeding with the investigation, the presiding judge must conduct a formal 38 investigation appropriate to the nature of the complaint. 39 40 (

A) The investigation may include interviews of witnesses and a review of 41 court records. 42 43

(

B) As soon as practicable, the presiding judge must give the subordinate 1 judicial officer a copy of the complaint or a

summary of its allegations 2 and allow the subordinate judicial officer an opportunity to respond. 3 4

(5) If the presiding judge closes action on the complaint under (i)(4)(

A) and the 5 presiding judge is aware that the subordinate judicial officer knows of the 6 complaint, the presiding judge must give the subordinate judicial officer 7 written notice of the final action taken on the complaint. 8 9 (2)

(6) If the presiding judge decides to impose discipline or take other appropriate 10 corrective action under (i)(4)(

B) or (C), within 10 days after the completion 11 of the investigation or as soon thereafter as is reasonably possible, the 12 presiding judge must give the subordinate judicial officer the following in 13 writing: 14 15 (A) * * * 16 17 (

B) The facts and other information forming the basis for the proposed 18 action and the source of the facts and information, sufficient to allow a 19 meaningful response to the allegations. 20 21

(3) Final action on the complaint may include: 22 23 (

A) A finding that no further action need be taken on the complaint; 24 25 (

B) An oral or written warning to the subordinate judicial officer; 26 27 (

C) A private written reprimand to the subordinate judicial officer; 28 29 (

D) A public written reprimand to the subordinate judicial officer; 30 31 (

E) Suspension of the subordinate judicial officer; 32 33 (

F) Termination of the subordinate judicial officer; and 34 35 (

G) Any other action the court may deem appropriate. 36 37 (4)

(7) The notice of the intended final action on the complaint in (j)(2)(i)(6)(A) 38 must include the following advice: 39 40 (

A) The subordinate judicial officer may request an opportunity to respond 41 to the intended final action within 10 days after service of the notice; 42 and 43

1 (B) * * * 2 3 (5)

(8) If the subordinate judicial officer requests an opportunity to respond, the 4 presiding judge should must allow the subordinate judicial officer an 5 opportunity to respond to the notice of the intended final action, either orally 6 or in writing as specified by the presiding judge, in accordance with local 7 rules. 8 9 (6)

(9) Within 10 days after the subordinate judicial officer has responded, the 10 presiding judge must give the subordinate judicial officer and the 11 complainant written notice of the final action taken on the complaint. The 12 notice to the complainant must include the information required under (l). 13 14 (7)

(10) If the subordinate judicial officer does not request or has not been given 15 an opportunity to respond, the presiding judge must promptly give written 16 notice of the final action to the complainant. The notice must include the 17 information required under (l) (k). 18 19 (Subd (

i) amended effective January 1, 2016; previously amended effective January 1, 20 2006 and January 1, 2007.) 21 22 (k)(

j) Notice to the Commission on Judicial Performance 23 24

(1) If a court disciplines a subordinate judicial officer by written reprimand under 25 (i)(4)(

B) or (j)(3)(

C) or (D), suspension, or removal termination for conduct 26 that, if alleged against a judge, would be within the jurisdiction of the 27 commission under

article VI,

section 18 of the California Constitution, the 28 presiding judge must promptly forward to the commission a copy of the 29 portions of the court file that reasonably reflect the basis of the action taken 30 by the court, including the complaint or allegations of misconduct and the 31 subordinate judicial officer’s response. This provision is applicable even 32 when the disciplinary action does not result from a written complaint. 33 34

(2) If a subordinate judicial officer resigns (

A) while an preliminary or formal 35 investigation under (

i) or (

j) is pending concerning conduct that, if alleged 36 against a judge, would be within the jurisdiction of the commission under 37

article VI,

section 18 of the California Constitution, or (

B) under 38 circumstances that would lead a reasonable person to conclude that the 39 resignation was due, at least in part, to a complaint or allegation of 40 misconduct that, if alleged against a judge, would be within the jurisdiction 41 of the commission under

article VI,

section 18 of the California Constitution, 42 the presiding judge must, within 15 days of the resignation or as soon 43

thereafter as is reasonably possible, forward to the commission the entire 1 court file on any pending complaint about or allegation of misconduct 2 committed by the subordinate judicial officer. 3 4 (3) * * * 5 6 (Subd (

j) relettered and amended effective January 1, 2016; adopted as subd (k); 7 previously amended effective January 1, 2007 and July 1, 2010.) 8 9 (l)(

k) Notice of final court action 10 11

(1) When the court has completed its action on a complaint, the presiding judge 12 must promptly notify the complainant, if known, and the subordinate judicial 13 officer of the final court action. 14 15 (2) * * * 16 17 (Subd (

k) relettered and amended effective January 1, 2016; adopted as subd (l); 18 previously amended effective April 29, 1999 and January 1, 2007.) 19 20 Rule 10.703 amended effective January 1, 2016; adopted as rule 6.655 effective November 20, 21 1998; previously amended and renumbered effective January 1, 2007; previously amended 22 effective April 29, 1999, July 1, 2002, January 1, 2006, and July 1, 2010. 23 24