News Release

Date: August 26, 1999

Number: 49

Task Force on Trial Court Employees to Meet in San Francisco August 30–September 1, 1999

San Francisco — The Task Force on Trial Court Employees is set to hold a working and educational session in San Francisco from Monday, August 30 through Wednesday, September 1, 1999. All meetings are open to the public and the three-day session will open with a specific time on Monday for public comment by trial court employees and other interested parties.

The August 30 meeting is 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 by 9:45 a.m. The August 31 meeting is from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The September 1 meeting is from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The task force meeting will be held in the Judicial Council Conference Center at the Hiram W. Johnson State Office Building, 455 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, California. Limited seating is available for members of the public.

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 task force is charged with developing and recommending a personnel structure for trial court employees.

The task force meeting has the following objectives:

To provide an opportunity for communication through the public comment period;

To provide an update on the addendum to the trial court employee survey and to provide reports to the task force for its review;

To revisit employment status options and reach agreement on modifications to, as well as the form of, the task force’s recommendations;

To finalize assumptions, objectives, and models for:

        1. Group insurance and other employer-provided benefits;
        2. Retiree group insurance benefits;
        3. Federally regulated benefits;
        4. Deferred compensation;
        5. Transition issues;
        6. Employee advisory vote and public entity poll methods; and
        7. Other models as needed;

To provide an update on Legislative documentation requirements;

To provide an update on social security issues; and

To agree on a process for drafting legislation based on the task force’srecommendations.

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

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