Capital Accounts is an occasional chronicle of the intersection of politics and legal policy in Sacramento.
The judiciary was not so fortunate with AB 1491, a bill that would have extended the legal authorization for counties to transfer ownership of courts to the state. The state was supposed to have taken the keys to all court facilities by June 30 as part of a long-standing push to put court operations under state control. Legal complexities, however, have slowed the transfers and judiciary leaders had sought more time from lawmakers.
AB 1491 stalled in the state Assembly early Wednesday, however, over disagreements over how much counties who still haven’t transferred their court buildings should have to pay the state annually.
“We were really, really close to an agreement,” Howard said. “We just were not able to get there. We will just pick this up immediately when the Legislature comes back in January.”
The delay in transfers will not affect court operations, Howard said.
