AB 879: Juveniles: court proceedings: notice.

Existing law authorizes the juvenile court to adjudge a minor who has been abused or neglected, or who meets other specified criteria, to be a dependent child of the court. Existing law requires the court to conduct various hearings regarding children who are, or who may become, dependent children, including a detention hearing, jurisdictional hearing, and dispositional hearing. Existing law requires the probation officer, the social worker, or the clerk of the court to provide notice of those hearings to certain persons, including parents, guardians, the child, if he or she is 10 years of age or older, adult relatives under certain conditions, and attorneys for the parents or guardians, as specified.

This bill would, until January 1, 2019, generally allow service for the above purposes to be made by electronic mail if the county, or city and county, and the court choose to permit service by electronic mail and the person to be served has consented to service by electronic mail by signing a specified form, as provided.