SB 403: Sale of county courthouses.

Existing law authorizes the Judicial Council to dispose of surplus court facilities pursuant to a specified process that requires, among other things, the Judicial Council to consult with the county where the court facility is located, offer the facility to the county at a fair market value before offering it to another state or local government agency, and deposit the funds received from a sale into the State Court Facilities Construction Fund. The process further requires the Judicial Council, if the court facility was previously the responsibility of a county, to comply with certain requirements applicable to the sale of surplus state property. Existing law establishes the Immediate and Critical Needs Account within the State Court Facilities Construction Fund. The California Constitution requires the proceeds from the sale of surplus state property to be deposited into the Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties, a continuously appropriated fund.

This bill would, notwithstanding any other law, specifically authorize the Judicial Council to sell the Chico, Corning, Clovis, Firebaugh, Reedley, Avenal, and Corcoran superior courthouses, as specified, if the sale complies with certain requirements applicable to the disposal of court facilities and the Judicial Council consults with, and first offers the right to purchase the property to, the county in which the property is located. The bill would require the net proceeds from the sale of the courthouses to be deposited into the Immediate and Critical Needs Account of the State Court Facilities Construction Fund. The bill would state that the disposition of this property is not a sale or other disposition of surplus state property within the meaning of the California Constitution.

The bill would make legislative findings in support of its provisions.

This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.