Report 2016-137 Recommendation 12 Responses

Report 2016-137: Commission on Judicial Performance: Weaknesses in Its Oversight Have Created Opportunities for Judicial Misconduct to Persist (Release Date: April 2019)

Recommendation #12 To: Commission on Judicial Performance

To ensure that it expeditiously improves the public's ability to submit complaints, CJP should begin accepting complaints online upon updating its electronic case management system.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From April 2021

CJP began accepting online complaints in January 2021.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Fully Implemented

This recommendation is fully implemented now that CJP accepts online complaints.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2020

CJP is in the process of implementing this recommendation. CJP was not able to acquire a new case management system (CMS) that would allow it to accept complaints online until funding for the CMS was included in its budget. That funding was included in CJP's budget for fiscal year 2020-2021. CJP anticipates that the new CMS will be functional, and that it will be able to accept complaints online, by January 2021. In August 2020, CJP began the process of developing and installing a new CMS.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Partially Implemented

This recommendation will be fully implemented after we verify that CJP has began accepting complaints online after updating its electronic case management system.

1-Year Agency Response

CJP staff has researched a new case management system (CMS) that will also allow CJP to accept complaints online. CJP estimates that the cost of a new CMS, including necessary data migration, will amount to at least $150,000 (and potentially much more than $150,000). CJP has worked with the Department of Finance to have these funds, and others recommended by the audit report, added to its budget for fiscal year 2020-21. Given the fiscal impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the necessary responses thereto, CJP appreciates that the budget for 2020-21 is up in the air and has yet to be resolved.

Without additional funds allocated to its budget, CJP will not be able to cover the cost of a new CMS through "budget efficiencies," or otherwise. As noted, the cost of a new CMS would be not less than $150,000. The budget efficiencies, identified in the audit report, that CJP could possibly implement this fiscal year amount to $52,000, at most. CJP anticipates that it will return zero dollars to the General Fund this fiscal year (2019-20). CJP returned zero dollars to the General Fund in fiscal year 2018-19. The prior fiscal year, CJP returned $7,000 to the General Fund. Almost 90% of the budget efficiencies that the audit report identifies rely on CJP relocating its offices. There are statutory and practical constraints on CJP's ability to move its offices, and such savings are not achievable this fiscal year. Moreover, in the near term, any savings from lower rent would be offset by the cost of tenant improvements for a new office and by the cost of moving to the new office.

In addition, there are no other possible savings that would permit CJP to obtain a new CMS without a budget increase.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Partially Implemented

On June 29, 2020 the Governor signed the Budget Act of 2020 which allocated additional funding to CJP so that it could update its case management system. This recommendation will be fully implemented after we verify that CJP has began accepting complaints online after updating its electronic case management system.

6-Month Agency Response

CJP staff has researched a new case management system (CMS) that will also allow CJP to accept complaints online. CJP estimates that the cost of a new CMS, including necessary data migration, will amount to at least $150,000 (and potentially much more than $150,000). Without additional funds allocated to its budget, CJP will not be able to cover the cost of a new CMS through "budget efficiencies," or otherwise. As noted, the cost of a new CMS would be not less than $150,000. The budget efficiencies, identified in the audit report, that CJP could possibly implement this fiscal year amount to $52,000, at most. CJP returned zero dollars to the General Fund in fiscal year 2018-19. The prior fiscal year, CJP returned $7,000 to the General Fund. Almost 90% of the budget efficiencies that the audit report identifies rely on CJP relocating its offices. There are statutory and practical constraints on CJP's ability to move its offices, and such savings are not achievable this fiscal year. Moreover, in the near term, any savings from lower rent would be offset by the cost of tenant improvements for a new office and by the cost of moving to the new office.

In addition, there are no other possible savings that would permit CJP to obtain a new CMS without a budget increase.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Pending

As stated in our 60-Day assessment, we remain concerned that CJP did not work with the Legislature to obtain a budget increase so it could hire an investigations supervisor. This is an important recommendation that aims to improve CJP's investigations into judicial misconduct.

60-Day Agency Response

Commission staff has begun to research a new case management system that will also allow the commission to accept complaints online. The commission intends to move forward with a new CMS with that capability once they have completed that research and once the necessary funds have been included as a part of its budget.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending

The status of this recommendation is pending CJP accepting complaints online upon updating its electronic case management system.

CJP did not work with the Legislature to obtain a budget increase so it could purchase a case management system. CJP indicated that it did not approach the Legislature about this funding until after the Governor released his revised budget in May 2019. CJP reported to us that at that time, a legislative staff member directed it to work with the Department of Finance to pursue these funds through the budget change proposal process, which CJP plans to do. However, CJP did not indicate to us that it took any significant steps through the budget process to alert the Legislature to the results of the audit and the need for additional funding.

As it pursues additional funding, it will be important for CJP to identify budget efficiencies, like those we identify in our audit report. This will assist CJP in moving toward establishing a case management system even if it does not successfully obtain additional funding.

All Recommendations in 2016-137

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.