State Codes and Statutes

Statutes > California > Gov > 71650-71658

GOVERNMENT CODE
SECTION 71650-71658



71650.  (a) As of the implementation date of this article, as
provided in Section 71658, each trial court shall establish a trial
court employment protection system that shall become the minimum
employment protection system for all trial court employees and shall
become part of the sole trial court employee personnel system. The
trial court employment protection system shall replace any county
employment protection systems applying to trial court employees prior
to the implementation date provided in Section 71658, except as
otherwise specified in this article. This article establishes minimum
standards, and each trial court employment protection system shall,
at a minimum, conform to the requirements of this article.
   (b) Nothing in this article shall preclude the establishment of
enhanced employment protection systems pursuant to trial court
personnel policies, procedures, or plans subject to meet and confer
in good faith.
   (c) Nothing in this article shall be construed to provide, either
explicitly or implicitly, a civil cause of action for breach of
contract either express or implied arising out of a termination of
employment.
   (d) Except as specified in subdivisions (b) and (c), this article
shall not apply to either of the following categories of trial court
employees:
   (1) Subordinate judicial officers.
   (2) Managerial, confidential, temporary, limited term, and
probationary employees, unless included within the trial court
employment protection system in accordance with trial court personnel
policies, procedures, or plans subject to meet and confer in good
faith.



71651.  (a) The trial court employment protection system in each
trial court shall include progressive discipline, as defined by each
trial court's personnel policies, procedures, or plans, subject to
meet and confer in good faith. Except for layoffs for organizational
necessity as provided for in Section 71652, discipline, up to and
including termination of employment, shall be for cause.
   (b) For purposes of this section, "for cause" means a fair and
honest cause or reason, regulated by good faith on the part of the
party exercising the power.


71652.  (a) A trial court employee may be laid off based on the
organizational necessity of the court. Each trial court shall
develop, subject to meet and confer in good faith, personnel rules
regarding procedures for layoffs for organizational necessity.
Employees shall be laid off on the basis of seniority of the
employees in the class of layoff, in the absence of a mutual
agreement between the trial court and a recognized employee
organization providing for a different order of layoff.
   (b) For purposes of this section, a "layoff for organizational
necessity" means a termination based on the needs or resources of the
court, including, but not limited to, a reorganization or reduction
in force or lack of funds.



71653.  Subject to meet and confer in good faith, each trial court
shall establish in its personnel rules a process for conducting an
evidentiary due process hearing to review disciplinary decisions that
by law require an evidentiary due process hearing, which shall
include, at a minimum, all of the following elements:
   (a) A procedure for appointment of an impartial hearing officer
who shall not be a trial court employee or judge of the employing
court.
   (b) The hearing shall result in an appropriate record with a
written report that has findings of fact and conclusions that
reference the evidence.
   (c) The employee and trial court shall have the right to call
witnesses and present evidence. The trial court shall be required to
release trial court employees to testify at the hearing.
   (d) The hearing officer shall have the authority to issue
subpoenas for the attendance of witnesses and subpoenas duces tecum
for the production of books, records, documents, and other evidence
as provided in Section 1282.6 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
   (e) The employee shall have the right to representation, including
legal counsel, if provided by the employee.
   (f) If the hearing officer disagrees with the trial court's
disciplinary decision, the trial court shall furnish a certified copy
of the record of proceedings before the hearing officer to the
employee or, if the employee is represented by a recognized employee
organization or counsel, to that representative, without cost.



71654.  Subject to meet and confer in good faith, each trial court
shall establish in its personnel rules a process for the trial court
to review a hearing officer's report and recommendation made pursuant
to Section 71653 that provides, at a minimum, that the decision of
the hearing officer shall be subject to review, as follows:
   (a) A trial court shall have 30 calendar days from receipt of the
hearing officer's report or receipt of the record of the hearing,
whichever is later, to issue a written decision accepting, rejecting
or modifying the hearing officer's report or recommendation unless
the trial court and employee mutually agree to a different timeframe.
   (b) In making its decision under subdivision (a), the trial court
shall be bound by the factual findings of the hearing officer, except
factual findings that are not supported by substantial evidence, and
the trial court shall give substantial deference to the recommended
disposition of the hearing officer.
   (c) If the trial court rejects or modifies the hearing officer's
recommendation, the trial court shall specify the reason or reasons
why the recommended disposition is rejected in a written statement
which shall have direct reference to the facts found and shall
specify whether the material factual findings are supported by
substantial evidence. The trial court may reject or modify the
recommendation of the hearing officer only if the material factual
findings are not supported by substantial evidence, or for any of the
following reasons or reasons of substantially similar gravity or
significance:
   (1) The recommendation places an employee or the public at an
unacceptable risk of physical harm from an objective point of view.
   (2) The recommendation requires an act contrary to law.
   (3) The recommendation obstructs the court from performing its
constitutional or statutory function from an objective point of view.
   (4) The recommendation disagrees with the trial court's penalty
determination, but the hearing officer has not identified material,
substantial evidence in the record that provides the basis for that
disagreement.
   (5) The recommendation is contrary to past practices in similar
situations presented to the hearing officer that the hearing officer
has failed to consider or distinguish.
   (6) From an objective point of view, and applied by the trial
court in a good faith manner, the recommendation exposes the trial
court to present or future legal liability other than the financial
liability of the actual remedy proposed by the hearing officer.
   (d) If a trial court's review results in rejection or substantial
modification of the hearing officer's recommendation, then the final
review shall be conducted by an individual other than the
disciplining officer. If the disciplining officer is a judge of the
trial court, the review shall be made by another judge of the court,
a judicial committee, an individual, or panel as specified in the
trial court's personnel rules. However, in a trial court with two or
fewer judges, if the trial court has no other judge than the
disciplining judge or judges, the judge or judges may conduct the
review; and, as a minimum requirement, in a trial court with 10 or
more judges, the review shall be by a panel of three judges, whose
decision shall be by a majority vote, which shall be selected as
follows:
   (1) One judge shall be selected by the presiding judge or his or
her designee.
   (2) One judge shall be selected by the employee or, if the
employee is represented, by his or her bargaining representative.
   (3) The two appointed judges shall select a third judge.
   On panels in a trial court with 10 or more judges, no judge may be
selected to serve without his or her consent; the term of office of
the panel shall be defined by local personnel policies, procedures,
or plans subject to the obligation to meet and confer in good faith;
and no judge shall serve on the panel in a case in which he or she
has imposed discipline.



71655.  (a) An employee may challenge the decision of the
disciplining trial court, made pursuant to Section 71654, rejecting
or modifying the hearing officer's recommendation by filing a writ of
mandamus pursuant to Section 1094.5 of the Code of Civil Procedure
in the appropriate court, and such review by that court shall be
based on the entire record. If required by the writ procedure and if
not previously provided to the disciplined employee, the disciplining
court shall furnish a certified copy of the record of the proceeding
before the hearing officer to the disciplined employee or, if the
employee is represented, to the bargaining representative without
charge. In reviewing the disciplining trial court's rejection or
modification of the hearing officer's recommendation, the reviewing
court shall be bound by the hearing officer's material factual
findings that are supported by substantial evidence.
   (b) The denial of due process or the imposition of a disciplinary
decision that by law requires a due process hearing without holding
the required hearing may be challenged by a petition for a writ of
mandate.



71656.  Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, in a
county of the first class as defined in Section 28022 as of January
1, 2001:
   (a) As of the implementation date provided in Section 71658, a
trial court employee who was a member of a county civil service
system shall remain in that system for the sole purposes of
evidentiary due process hearings before the county civil service
commission as an alternative to the due process hearings provided for
in Sections 71653, 71654, and 71655, unless the employee elects,
pursuant to subdivision (c), to be subject to the trial court
employment protection system provided in this article.
   (b) One year after the implementation date provided in Section
71658, a trial court employee who was a member of a county civil
service system shall be deemed to have elected, pursuant to
subdivision (c), to be subject to the trial court employment
protection system provided in this article unless the employee has,
during that year, submitted to the trial court a signed writing
expressly electing the county civil service commission solely for the
purposes of evidentiary due process hearings in lieu of the hearings
provided for in Sections 71653, 71654, and 71656. However, no
election may be made after receiving notice of intended discipline
until after the disciplinary action has been finally resolved and the
employee has exhausted all remedies related to that action. The
one-year period in which to elect the county civil service commission
shall be tolled during the period of time when a trial court
employee is disabled from making an election because of pending
disciplinary action or proceedings.
   (c) A trial court employee who is subject to the county civil
service system may elect at any time to be subject to the trial court
employment protection system provided in this article, except that
no election may be made after receiving notice of intended discipline
until after the disciplinary action has been finally resolved and
the employee has exhausted all remedies related to that action. An
election to be subject to the trial court employment protection
system may not be revoked.
   (d) A trial court employee who elects to remain in the county
civil service system and who later is promoted or transferred into a
position that is comparable to a position that is classified as
exempt from the county civil service system shall be subject to the
trial court employment protection system for all purposes.
   (e) Trial court employees in a county of the first class eligible
for making an election pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b) shall be
deemed county employees for purposes of remaining eligible for
evidentiary due process hearings before the county civil service
commission.
   (f) A trial court shall adopt procedures, subject to meet and
confer in good faith, that establish a process for election pursuant
to this section.



71657.  (a) Disciplinary action served on a trial court employee
prior to the implementation date of this chapter shall remain in
effect in accordance with the procedures established under the trial
court's predecessor personnel system.
   (b) Appeals of disciplinary action served on a trial court
employee prior to the implementation date of this chapter shall be
made in accordance with the procedures established under the trial
court's predecessor personnel system. Appeals of disciplinary action
served on a trial court employee after the implementation date of
this chapter shall be made in accordance with the procedures
established pursuant to this article. The consequences of past
discipline under the trial court's new employment protection system
pursuant to this article shall be subject to meet and confer in good
faith.



71658.  (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), the
implementation date of this article is the effective date of this
chapter.
   (b) Representatives of a trial court and representatives of
recognized employee organizations may mutually agree to an
implementation date of this article different from that specified in
subdivision (a). However, if any provisions of this chapter are
governed by an existing memorandum of understanding or agreement
covering trial court employees, as to those provisions, the
implementation date shall be either the date a successor memorandum
of understanding or agreement is effective or, if no agreement for a
successor memorandum of understanding or agreement is reached, 90
days from the date of the expiration of the predecessor memorandum of
understanding or agreement unless representatives of the trial court
and representatives of recognized employee organizations mutually
agree otherwise.

State Codes and Statutes

Statutes > California > Gov > 71650-71658

GOVERNMENT CODE
SECTION 71650-71658



71650.  (a) As of the implementation date of this article, as
provided in Section 71658, each trial court shall establish a trial
court employment protection system that shall become the minimum
employment protection system for all trial court employees and shall
become part of the sole trial court employee personnel system. The
trial court employment protection system shall replace any county
employment protection systems applying to trial court employees prior
to the implementation date provided in Section 71658, except as
otherwise specified in this article. This article establishes minimum
standards, and each trial court employment protection system shall,
at a minimum, conform to the requirements of this article.
   (b) Nothing in this article shall preclude the establishment of
enhanced employment protection systems pursuant to trial court
personnel policies, procedures, or plans subject to meet and confer
in good faith.
   (c) Nothing in this article shall be construed to provide, either
explicitly or implicitly, a civil cause of action for breach of
contract either express or implied arising out of a termination of
employment.
   (d) Except as specified in subdivisions (b) and (c), this article
shall not apply to either of the following categories of trial court
employees:
   (1) Subordinate judicial officers.
   (2) Managerial, confidential, temporary, limited term, and
probationary employees, unless included within the trial court
employment protection system in accordance with trial court personnel
policies, procedures, or plans subject to meet and confer in good
faith.



71651.  (a) The trial court employment protection system in each
trial court shall include progressive discipline, as defined by each
trial court's personnel policies, procedures, or plans, subject to
meet and confer in good faith. Except for layoffs for organizational
necessity as provided for in Section 71652, discipline, up to and
including termination of employment, shall be for cause.
   (b) For purposes of this section, "for cause" means a fair and
honest cause or reason, regulated by good faith on the part of the
party exercising the power.


71652.  (a) A trial court employee may be laid off based on the
organizational necessity of the court. Each trial court shall
develop, subject to meet and confer in good faith, personnel rules
regarding procedures for layoffs for organizational necessity.
Employees shall be laid off on the basis of seniority of the
employees in the class of layoff, in the absence of a mutual
agreement between the trial court and a recognized employee
organization providing for a different order of layoff.
   (b) For purposes of this section, a "layoff for organizational
necessity" means a termination based on the needs or resources of the
court, including, but not limited to, a reorganization or reduction
in force or lack of funds.



71653.  Subject to meet and confer in good faith, each trial court
shall establish in its personnel rules a process for conducting an
evidentiary due process hearing to review disciplinary decisions that
by law require an evidentiary due process hearing, which shall
include, at a minimum, all of the following elements:
   (a) A procedure for appointment of an impartial hearing officer
who shall not be a trial court employee or judge of the employing
court.
   (b) The hearing shall result in an appropriate record with a
written report that has findings of fact and conclusions that
reference the evidence.
   (c) The employee and trial court shall have the right to call
witnesses and present evidence. The trial court shall be required to
release trial court employees to testify at the hearing.
   (d) The hearing officer shall have the authority to issue
subpoenas for the attendance of witnesses and subpoenas duces tecum
for the production of books, records, documents, and other evidence
as provided in Section 1282.6 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
   (e) The employee shall have the right to representation, including
legal counsel, if provided by the employee.
   (f) If the hearing officer disagrees with the trial court's
disciplinary decision, the trial court shall furnish a certified copy
of the record of proceedings before the hearing officer to the
employee or, if the employee is represented by a recognized employee
organization or counsel, to that representative, without cost.



71654.  Subject to meet and confer in good faith, each trial court
shall establish in its personnel rules a process for the trial court
to review a hearing officer's report and recommendation made pursuant
to Section 71653 that provides, at a minimum, that the decision of
the hearing officer shall be subject to review, as follows:
   (a) A trial court shall have 30 calendar days from receipt of the
hearing officer's report or receipt of the record of the hearing,
whichever is later, to issue a written decision accepting, rejecting
or modifying the hearing officer's report or recommendation unless
the trial court and employee mutually agree to a different timeframe.
   (b) In making its decision under subdivision (a), the trial court
shall be bound by the factual findings of the hearing officer, except
factual findings that are not supported by substantial evidence, and
the trial court shall give substantial deference to the recommended
disposition of the hearing officer.
   (c) If the trial court rejects or modifies the hearing officer's
recommendation, the trial court shall specify the reason or reasons
why the recommended disposition is rejected in a written statement
which shall have direct reference to the facts found and shall
specify whether the material factual findings are supported by
substantial evidence. The trial court may reject or modify the
recommendation of the hearing officer only if the material factual
findings are not supported by substantial evidence, or for any of the
following reasons or reasons of substantially similar gravity or
significance:
   (1) The recommendation places an employee or the public at an
unacceptable risk of physical harm from an objective point of view.
   (2) The recommendation requires an act contrary to law.
   (3) The recommendation obstructs the court from performing its
constitutional or statutory function from an objective point of view.
   (4) The recommendation disagrees with the trial court's penalty
determination, but the hearing officer has not identified material,
substantial evidence in the record that provides the basis for that
disagreement.
   (5) The recommendation is contrary to past practices in similar
situations presented to the hearing officer that the hearing officer
has failed to consider or distinguish.
   (6) From an objective point of view, and applied by the trial
court in a good faith manner, the recommendation exposes the trial
court to present or future legal liability other than the financial
liability of the actual remedy proposed by the hearing officer.
   (d) If a trial court's review results in rejection or substantial
modification of the hearing officer's recommendation, then the final
review shall be conducted by an individual other than the
disciplining officer. If the disciplining officer is a judge of the
trial court, the review shall be made by another judge of the court,
a judicial committee, an individual, or panel as specified in the
trial court's personnel rules. However, in a trial court with two or
fewer judges, if the trial court has no other judge than the
disciplining judge or judges, the judge or judges may conduct the
review; and, as a minimum requirement, in a trial court with 10 or
more judges, the review shall be by a panel of three judges, whose
decision shall be by a majority vote, which shall be selected as
follows:
   (1) One judge shall be selected by the presiding judge or his or
her designee.
   (2) One judge shall be selected by the employee or, if the
employee is represented, by his or her bargaining representative.
   (3) The two appointed judges shall select a third judge.
   On panels in a trial court with 10 or more judges, no judge may be
selected to serve without his or her consent; the term of office of
the panel shall be defined by local personnel policies, procedures,
or plans subject to the obligation to meet and confer in good faith;
and no judge shall serve on the panel in a case in which he or she
has imposed discipline.



71655.  (a) An employee may challenge the decision of the
disciplining trial court, made pursuant to Section 71654, rejecting
or modifying the hearing officer's recommendation by filing a writ of
mandamus pursuant to Section 1094.5 of the Code of Civil Procedure
in the appropriate court, and such review by that court shall be
based on the entire record. If required by the writ procedure and if
not previously provided to the disciplined employee, the disciplining
court shall furnish a certified copy of the record of the proceeding
before the hearing officer to the disciplined employee or, if the
employee is represented, to the bargaining representative without
charge. In reviewing the disciplining trial court's rejection or
modification of the hearing officer's recommendation, the reviewing
court shall be bound by the hearing officer's material factual
findings that are supported by substantial evidence.
   (b) The denial of due process or the imposition of a disciplinary
decision that by law requires a due process hearing without holding
the required hearing may be challenged by a petition for a writ of
mandate.



71656.  Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, in a
county of the first class as defined in Section 28022 as of January
1, 2001:
   (a) As of the implementation date provided in Section 71658, a
trial court employee who was a member of a county civil service
system shall remain in that system for the sole purposes of
evidentiary due process hearings before the county civil service
commission as an alternative to the due process hearings provided for
in Sections 71653, 71654, and 71655, unless the employee elects,
pursuant to subdivision (c), to be subject to the trial court
employment protection system provided in this article.
   (b) One year after the implementation date provided in Section
71658, a trial court employee who was a member of a county civil
service system shall be deemed to have elected, pursuant to
subdivision (c), to be subject to the trial court employment
protection system provided in this article unless the employee has,
during that year, submitted to the trial court a signed writing
expressly electing the county civil service commission solely for the
purposes of evidentiary due process hearings in lieu of the hearings
provided for in Sections 71653, 71654, and 71656. However, no
election may be made after receiving notice of intended discipline
until after the disciplinary action has been finally resolved and the
employee has exhausted all remedies related to that action. The
one-year period in which to elect the county civil service commission
shall be tolled during the period of time when a trial court
employee is disabled from making an election because of pending
disciplinary action or proceedings.
   (c) A trial court employee who is subject to the county civil
service system may elect at any time to be subject to the trial court
employment protection system provided in this article, except that
no election may be made after receiving notice of intended discipline
until after the disciplinary action has been finally resolved and
the employee has exhausted all remedies related to that action. An
election to be subject to the trial court employment protection
system may not be revoked.
   (d) A trial court employee who elects to remain in the county
civil service system and who later is promoted or transferred into a
position that is comparable to a position that is classified as
exempt from the county civil service system shall be subject to the
trial court employment protection system for all purposes.
   (e) Trial court employees in a county of the first class eligible
for making an election pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b) shall be
deemed county employees for purposes of remaining eligible for
evidentiary due process hearings before the county civil service
commission.
   (f) A trial court shall adopt procedures, subject to meet and
confer in good faith, that establish a process for election pursuant
to this section.



71657.  (a) Disciplinary action served on a trial court employee
prior to the implementation date of this chapter shall remain in
effect in accordance with the procedures established under the trial
court's predecessor personnel system.
   (b) Appeals of disciplinary action served on a trial court
employee prior to the implementation date of this chapter shall be
made in accordance with the procedures established under the trial
court's predecessor personnel system. Appeals of disciplinary action
served on a trial court employee after the implementation date of
this chapter shall be made in accordance with the procedures
established pursuant to this article. The consequences of past
discipline under the trial court's new employment protection system
pursuant to this article shall be subject to meet and confer in good
faith.



71658.  (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), the
implementation date of this article is the effective date of this
chapter.
   (b) Representatives of a trial court and representatives of
recognized employee organizations may mutually agree to an
implementation date of this article different from that specified in
subdivision (a). However, if any provisions of this chapter are
governed by an existing memorandum of understanding or agreement
covering trial court employees, as to those provisions, the
implementation date shall be either the date a successor memorandum
of understanding or agreement is effective or, if no agreement for a
successor memorandum of understanding or agreement is reached, 90
days from the date of the expiration of the predecessor memorandum of
understanding or agreement unless representatives of the trial court
and representatives of recognized employee organizations mutually
agree otherwise.


State Codes and Statutes

State Codes and Statutes

Statutes > California > Gov > 71650-71658

GOVERNMENT CODE
SECTION 71650-71658



71650.  (a) As of the implementation date of this article, as
provided in Section 71658, each trial court shall establish a trial
court employment protection system that shall become the minimum
employment protection system for all trial court employees and shall
become part of the sole trial court employee personnel system. The
trial court employment protection system shall replace any county
employment protection systems applying to trial court employees prior
to the implementation date provided in Section 71658, except as
otherwise specified in this article. This article establishes minimum
standards, and each trial court employment protection system shall,
at a minimum, conform to the requirements of this article.
   (b) Nothing in this article shall preclude the establishment of
enhanced employment protection systems pursuant to trial court
personnel policies, procedures, or plans subject to meet and confer
in good faith.
   (c) Nothing in this article shall be construed to provide, either
explicitly or implicitly, a civil cause of action for breach of
contract either express or implied arising out of a termination of
employment.
   (d) Except as specified in subdivisions (b) and (c), this article
shall not apply to either of the following categories of trial court
employees:
   (1) Subordinate judicial officers.
   (2) Managerial, confidential, temporary, limited term, and
probationary employees, unless included within the trial court
employment protection system in accordance with trial court personnel
policies, procedures, or plans subject to meet and confer in good
faith.



71651.  (a) The trial court employment protection system in each
trial court shall include progressive discipline, as defined by each
trial court's personnel policies, procedures, or plans, subject to
meet and confer in good faith. Except for layoffs for organizational
necessity as provided for in Section 71652, discipline, up to and
including termination of employment, shall be for cause.
   (b) For purposes of this section, "for cause" means a fair and
honest cause or reason, regulated by good faith on the part of the
party exercising the power.


71652.  (a) A trial court employee may be laid off based on the
organizational necessity of the court. Each trial court shall
develop, subject to meet and confer in good faith, personnel rules
regarding procedures for layoffs for organizational necessity.
Employees shall be laid off on the basis of seniority of the
employees in the class of layoff, in the absence of a mutual
agreement between the trial court and a recognized employee
organization providing for a different order of layoff.
   (b) For purposes of this section, a "layoff for organizational
necessity" means a termination based on the needs or resources of the
court, including, but not limited to, a reorganization or reduction
in force or lack of funds.



71653.  Subject to meet and confer in good faith, each trial court
shall establish in its personnel rules a process for conducting an
evidentiary due process hearing to review disciplinary decisions that
by law require an evidentiary due process hearing, which shall
include, at a minimum, all of the following elements:
   (a) A procedure for appointment of an impartial hearing officer
who shall not be a trial court employee or judge of the employing
court.
   (b) The hearing shall result in an appropriate record with a
written report that has findings of fact and conclusions that
reference the evidence.
   (c) The employee and trial court shall have the right to call
witnesses and present evidence. The trial court shall be required to
release trial court employees to testify at the hearing.
   (d) The hearing officer shall have the authority to issue
subpoenas for the attendance of witnesses and subpoenas duces tecum
for the production of books, records, documents, and other evidence
as provided in Section 1282.6 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
   (e) The employee shall have the right to representation, including
legal counsel, if provided by the employee.
   (f) If the hearing officer disagrees with the trial court's
disciplinary decision, the trial court shall furnish a certified copy
of the record of proceedings before the hearing officer to the
employee or, if the employee is represented by a recognized employee
organization or counsel, to that representative, without cost.



71654.  Subject to meet and confer in good faith, each trial court
shall establish in its personnel rules a process for the trial court
to review a hearing officer's report and recommendation made pursuant
to Section 71653 that provides, at a minimum, that the decision of
the hearing officer shall be subject to review, as follows:
   (a) A trial court shall have 30 calendar days from receipt of the
hearing officer's report or receipt of the record of the hearing,
whichever is later, to issue a written decision accepting, rejecting
or modifying the hearing officer's report or recommendation unless
the trial court and employee mutually agree to a different timeframe.
   (b) In making its decision under subdivision (a), the trial court
shall be bound by the factual findings of the hearing officer, except
factual findings that are not supported by substantial evidence, and
the trial court shall give substantial deference to the recommended
disposition of the hearing officer.
   (c) If the trial court rejects or modifies the hearing officer's
recommendation, the trial court shall specify the reason or reasons
why the recommended disposition is rejected in a written statement
which shall have direct reference to the facts found and shall
specify whether the material factual findings are supported by
substantial evidence. The trial court may reject or modify the
recommendation of the hearing officer only if the material factual
findings are not supported by substantial evidence, or for any of the
following reasons or reasons of substantially similar gravity or
significance:
   (1) The recommendation places an employee or the public at an
unacceptable risk of physical harm from an objective point of view.
   (2) The recommendation requires an act contrary to law.
   (3) The recommendation obstructs the court from performing its
constitutional or statutory function from an objective point of view.
   (4) The recommendation disagrees with the trial court's penalty
determination, but the hearing officer has not identified material,
substantial evidence in the record that provides the basis for that
disagreement.
   (5) The recommendation is contrary to past practices in similar
situations presented to the hearing officer that the hearing officer
has failed to consider or distinguish.
   (6) From an objective point of view, and applied by the trial
court in a good faith manner, the recommendation exposes the trial
court to present or future legal liability other than the financial
liability of the actual remedy proposed by the hearing officer.
   (d) If a trial court's review results in rejection or substantial
modification of the hearing officer's recommendation, then the final
review shall be conducted by an individual other than the
disciplining officer. If the disciplining officer is a judge of the
trial court, the review shall be made by another judge of the court,
a judicial committee, an individual, or panel as specified in the
trial court's personnel rules. However, in a trial court with two or
fewer judges, if the trial court has no other judge than the
disciplining judge or judges, the judge or judges may conduct the
review; and, as a minimum requirement, in a trial court with 10 or
more judges, the review shall be by a panel of three judges, whose
decision shall be by a majority vote, which shall be selected as
follows:
   (1) One judge shall be selected by the presiding judge or his or
her designee.
   (2) One judge shall be selected by the employee or, if the
employee is represented, by his or her bargaining representative.
   (3) The two appointed judges shall select a third judge.
   On panels in a trial court with 10 or more judges, no judge may be
selected to serve without his or her consent; the term of office of
the panel shall be defined by local personnel policies, procedures,
or plans subject to the obligation to meet and confer in good faith;
and no judge shall serve on the panel in a case in which he or she
has imposed discipline.



71655.  (a) An employee may challenge the decision of the
disciplining trial court, made pursuant to Section 71654, rejecting
or modifying the hearing officer's recommendation by filing a writ of
mandamus pursuant to Section 1094.5 of the Code of Civil Procedure
in the appropriate court, and such review by that court shall be
based on the entire record. If required by the writ procedure and if
not previously provided to the disciplined employee, the disciplining
court shall furnish a certified copy of the record of the proceeding
before the hearing officer to the disciplined employee or, if the
employee is represented, to the bargaining representative without
charge. In reviewing the disciplining trial court's rejection or
modification of the hearing officer's recommendation, the reviewing
court shall be bound by the hearing officer's material factual
findings that are supported by substantial evidence.
   (b) The denial of due process or the imposition of a disciplinary
decision that by law requires a due process hearing without holding
the required hearing may be challenged by a petition for a writ of
mandate.



71656.  Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, in a
county of the first class as defined in Section 28022 as of January
1, 2001:
   (a) As of the implementation date provided in Section 71658, a
trial court employee who was a member of a county civil service
system shall remain in that system for the sole purposes of
evidentiary due process hearings before the county civil service
commission as an alternative to the due process hearings provided for
in Sections 71653, 71654, and 71655, unless the employee elects,
pursuant to subdivision (c), to be subject to the trial court
employment protection system provided in this article.
   (b) One year after the implementation date provided in Section
71658, a trial court employee who was a member of a county civil
service system shall be deemed to have elected, pursuant to
subdivision (c), to be subject to the trial court employment
protection system provided in this article unless the employee has,
during that year, submitted to the trial court a signed writing
expressly electing the county civil service commission solely for the
purposes of evidentiary due process hearings in lieu of the hearings
provided for in Sections 71653, 71654, and 71656. However, no
election may be made after receiving notice of intended discipline
until after the disciplinary action has been finally resolved and the
employee has exhausted all remedies related to that action. The
one-year period in which to elect the county civil service commission
shall be tolled during the period of time when a trial court
employee is disabled from making an election because of pending
disciplinary action or proceedings.
   (c) A trial court employee who is subject to the county civil
service system may elect at any time to be subject to the trial court
employment protection system provided in this article, except that
no election may be made after receiving notice of intended discipline
until after the disciplinary action has been finally resolved and
the employee has exhausted all remedies related to that action. An
election to be subject to the trial court employment protection
system may not be revoked.
   (d) A trial court employee who elects to remain in the county
civil service system and who later is promoted or transferred into a
position that is comparable to a position that is classified as
exempt from the county civil service system shall be subject to the
trial court employment protection system for all purposes.
   (e) Trial court employees in a county of the first class eligible
for making an election pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b) shall be
deemed county employees for purposes of remaining eligible for
evidentiary due process hearings before the county civil service
commission.
   (f) A trial court shall adopt procedures, subject to meet and
confer in good faith, that establish a process for election pursuant
to this section.



71657.  (a) Disciplinary action served on a trial court employee
prior to the implementation date of this chapter shall remain in
effect in accordance with the procedures established under the trial
court's predecessor personnel system.
   (b) Appeals of disciplinary action served on a trial court
employee prior to the implementation date of this chapter shall be
made in accordance with the procedures established under the trial
court's predecessor personnel system. Appeals of disciplinary action
served on a trial court employee after the implementation date of
this chapter shall be made in accordance with the procedures
established pursuant to this article. The consequences of past
discipline under the trial court's new employment protection system
pursuant to this article shall be subject to meet and confer in good
faith.



71658.  (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), the
implementation date of this article is the effective date of this
chapter.
   (b) Representatives of a trial court and representatives of
recognized employee organizations may mutually agree to an
implementation date of this article different from that specified in
subdivision (a). However, if any provisions of this chapter are
governed by an existing memorandum of understanding or agreement
covering trial court employees, as to those provisions, the
implementation date shall be either the date a successor memorandum
of understanding or agreement is effective or, if no agreement for a
successor memorandum of understanding or agreement is reached, 90
days from the date of the expiration of the predecessor memorandum of
understanding or agreement unless representatives of the trial court
and representatives of recognized employee organizations mutually
agree otherwise.