California State Court Filing Fees on the Rise in 2020
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday signed into law Assembly Bill 330, which is projected to generate an additional $11 million per year for the Sargent Shriver Civil Counsel program.
September 05, 2019 at 06:40 PM
3 minute read
Updated 9/6/19 at 10 am PT: Correction appended.
Some state court filing fees will increase by $15 next year to expand a program that provides legal help to poor litigants in certain civil cases.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday signed into law Assembly Bill 330, which is projected to generate an additional $11 million per year for the Sargent Shriver Civil Counsel program. The 2009 program, funded by an existing $10 surcharge on court filing fees, pays for pilot projects that provide legal help with housing-related matters, restraining orders, conservatorships, guardianships, elder abuse and custody actions.
The additional fees will expand those programs, and new language will broaden the types of family law cases where litigants can be helped.
"Access to justice shouldn't depend on your bank account balance or your ability to afford an attorney," the bill's author, Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel, D-Encino, said in a prepared statement. "This new law will ensure that low-income Californians who find themselves in the most difficult circumstances can count on competent representation as they seek justice through our legal system."
The bill was backed by legal groups around the state and there was no registered opposition.
The new $15 fee will be charged on more than 15 types of court services, ranging from recording a license to filing an affidavit of publication of notice of dissolution of partnership.
A 2017 analysis of the civil counsel program by the Judicial Council concluded that the legal help it funded increased the likelihood of settlements, improved the longevity of court orders and reduced court costs. The report found that in the first five years of the program 10 pilot projects selected by the Judicial Council helped 27,000 people.The median monthly income among those who were helped was $1,600, a figure below the 2014 federal poverty level.
Programs funded in the past have included six housing-related legal services in Kern, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Yolo counties; three child custody-related legal services in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco counties; and a probate guardianship program in Santa Barbara County, according to a Senate Judiciary Committee analysis.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the amount of money that would be generated from the newly passed fee increases. The total is $11 million per year, not $110 million.
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