Advisory Bodies
To provide leadership for advancing the consistent, impartial, independent, and accessible administration of justice, the Judicial Council must be aware of the issues and concerns confronting the judiciary, as well as appropriate solutions and responses. The council carries out this mission primarily through the work of its internal committees, advisory committees, and task forces. See below for more information about each of the groups.
For meetings subject to California Rules of Court 10.75, notices and agendas will be posted five business days before the meeting and materials for an open meeting will be posted three business days before the meeting.
Internal Committees
- Executive & Planning Committee
- Judicial Branch Budget Committee
- Judicial Council Technology Committee
- Litigation Management Committee
- Policy Coordination and Liaison Committee
- Rules and Projects Committee
Advisory Committees
Refer to Rule 10.34 Duties and responsibilities of advisory committees.
- Administrative Presiding Justices Advisory Committee
- Advisory Committee on Audits and Financial Accountability for the Judicial Branch
- Advisory Committee on Providing Access & Fairness
- Appellate Advisory Committee
- Center for Judicial Education and Research Advisory Committee
- Civil and Small Claims Advisory Committee
- Civil Jury Instructions Advisory Committee
- Collaborative Justice Courts Advisory Committee
- Court Executives Advisory Committee
- Court Facilities Advisory Committee
- Court Interpreters Advisory Panel
- Court Security Advisory Committee
- Criminal Jury Instructions Advisory Committee
- Criminal Law Advisory Committee
- Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee
- Information Technology Advisory Committee
- Judicial Branch Workers’ Compensation Program Advisory Committee
- Probate and Mental Health Advisory Committee
- Shriver Civil Counsel Act Implementation Committee
- Traffic Advisory Committee
- Trial Court Budget Advisory Committee
- Trial Court Facility Modification Advisory Committee
- Trial Court Presiding Judges Advisory Committee
- Tribal Court-State Court Forum
- Workload Assessment Advisory Committee
Task Forces and Other Advisory/Working Groups
Refer to Rule 10.70. Task forces and other advisory bodies.
Makes recommendations to the council on practices that will promote efficiency or improve financial accountability in the judicial branch.
Date Established: June 2010
Date Sunset: August 2017
Provides leadership and recommendations to improve the ability of California's state and local agencies, and the courts to help children grow up in safe, nurturing, and permanent homes through the application of reasonable efforts to prevent removal and achieve permanency; increased collaboration among courts and their partnering agencies; court reform to ensure timely hearings and fair treatment; and prioritization of children and families in the child welfare system in the allocation and administration of resources and funding.
Blue Ribbon Commission Members
The Commission for Impartial Courts was formed in September 2007. In December 2009, the Commission presented its final report to the Judicial Council of actions it should take in order to safeguard the quality, impartiality, and accountability of the California judiciary for the benefit of all its citizens.
Evaluate and make recommendations to the Judicial Council and the Legislature for consolidating and simplifying the imposition and distribution of the revenue derived from the debts with the goal of improving the process for those entities that benefit from the revenues.
Date Established: February 2011
Date Sunset: June 14, 2017
Makes recommendations to the Judicial Council on improving the administration of justice in domestic violence cases in the California trial courts.
Final Report of The Domestic Violence Practice And Procedure Task Force
The Task Force was charged with proposing measures to improve efficiency and fairness in family law proceedings and ensure access to justice for all family law litigants.
Elkins Family Law Implementation Task Force Fact Sheet
Membership list
The Joint Working Group for California’s Language Access Plan developed a comprehensive, statewide, language access plan (LAP) for the judiciary to be able to expand meaningful access for limited-English-proficient court users.
Established: June 2013
Sunset: January 2015
The Language Access Implementation Task Force advised the Judicial Council on implementation of the 75 recommendations in the Strategic Plan for Language Access in the California Courts, in order to expand meaningful access for limited-English-proficient court users.
Established: March 2015
Sunset: March 2019
The Mental Health Issues Implementation Task Force was charged with identifying the recommendations under Judicial Council purview, and developed a plan for judicial branch and interbranch implementation activities to improve court, criminal justice and mental health services outcomes for adults and juvenile offenders with mental illness, ensure fair and expeditious administration of justice, and promote improved access to treatment for litigants in the justice system.
Start Date: January 1, 2012
Sunset Date: December 31, 2015
Determines the best ways to assist the growing number of Californians who need legal services but cannot afford an attorney. The task force coordinates the statewide response of the bench and bar to the needs of self-represented, or pro per, parties and helps share information about model pro per programs; implements a statewide action plan for serving self-represented litigants; develops resources for services for self-represented litigants, particularly activities in the statewide action plan that require significant funding; and makes recommendations to the Judicial Council, the State Bar, and other appropriate institutions about additional measures that should be considered to improve court services for self-represented parties.
The Small Court Dependency Workload (SCDW) Working Group was formed to consider changes to the court-appointed–counsel funding methodology as it relates to small courts and to garner input from specific stakeholders about the allocation methodology as it pertains to courts with smaller caseloads to ensure that costs particular to the smaller courts are reflected in the court-appointed–counsel funding allocation methodology workload model.
The working group will report to the Executive and Planning Committee and will present recommendations to the Trial Court Budget Advisory Committee (TCBAC) for input. Those recommendation(s) will be presented to the Judicial Council in May 2017 by the chairs of both the SCDW Working Group and the TCBAC, after which the SCDW Working Group will have fulfilled its purpose and dissolve.
Date Established: October 2016
Date Sunset: May 19, 2017
The Task Force on Trial Court Fiscal Accountability will focus on implementing specified recommendations of the Trial Court Funding Workgroup and Trial Court Budget Working Group Funding Methodology Subcommittee as directed by the Judicial Council on April 26, 2013. The recommendations of these two bodies were designed to bring greater equity to California trial court funding and help ensure the delivery of quality justice, and equal access to justice statewide.
Task Force Roster
Task Force Charge
Purpose: This task force is charged with addressing and making recommendations on the governance, strategy, and financial support for judicial branch technology. They work in partnership with the courts and with input from branch stakeholders.
Date Established: Feb 2013
Date Sunset: August 22, 2014