News Release

Date: February 25, 1999

Number: 09

Task Force on Trial Court Employees to Meet in Contra Costa County on February 25–26

San Francisco — The Task Force on Trial Court Employees will hold a working and educational session in Concord on Thursday, February 25, and Friday, February 26, 1999. All sessions of the meeting are open to the public, and the meeting includes a specific time for public comment by trial court employees and other interested parties.

On February 25 the task force meeting will run from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with a public comment period from 10:00 to 10:30 a.m.; interested speakers should arrive on Thursday at 9:45 a.m. and sign in with a staff member. On February 26 the meeting will run from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The meeting will take place at the Concord Hilton, 1970 Diamond Blvd., Concord, California 94903.

The task force is chaired by Justice James A. Ardaiz, Administrative Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeal, Fifth Appellate District (Fresno). Established by the Trial Court Funding Act of 1997, the statewide panel is charged with developing and recommending a personnel structure for trial court employees.

Limited seating is available for members of the public.

The task force meeting has the following objectives:

Provide an opportunity for communication through public comment period;

Revisit definition of the term court employee for purposes of the survey and revise as appropriate;

Review, discuss and consider members’ input on the revised employment protection system model and reach consensus;

In relation to the meet-and-confer model, review the rule enforcement issue and reach consensus;

Review trial court employee advisory vote and public entity poll model and reach agreement;

Discuss retirement assumptions, objectives and model, and attempt to reach consensus;

Review the employment status definitions of the terms state, county, court, and other for final recommendations; revise as appropriate.

More information about the task force and upcoming meetings can be found on the task force Web site at www2.courtinfo.ca.gov/tcemployees.

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