70321. (a) The Judicial Council, in consultation with the superior court of each county and the county shall enter into agreements regarding the transfer of responsibility for court facilities from that county to the Judicial Council. The agreements shall be executed no later than December 31, 2009. Transfer of responsibility may occur not earlier than July 1, 2004, and not later than December 31, 2009. On or before July 1, 2003, each county shall designate those persons who shall negotiate the agreements on behalf of the county and shall give the Judicial Council the names of those persons. The name of a person designated by a county to negotiate on its behalf may be changed by the county at any time by providing written notice to the Judicial Council.
(b) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law and except as provided in paragraph (2), any transfer agreement that is executed on or after October 1, 2008, and on or before March 31, 2009, shall contain a requirement that the county pay, in addition to the county facility payment established pursuant to Article 5 (commencing with Section 70351), a continuing amount from the date of transfer calculated by multiplying the county facilities payment by the percentage change in the National Implicit Price Deflator for State and Local Government Purchases, as published by the Department of Finance, for the fiscal year in which the transfer agreement is executed as compared to the prior fiscal year.
(2) (A) Prior to September 30, 2008, the Administrative Office of the Courts and a county may jointly declare all of the following:
(i) That extraordinary circumstances exist that have prohibited successful execution of a transfer agreement.
(ii) That all relevant transfer documents have been timely submitted and reviewed by the county.
(iii) That the failure to execute a transfer agreement prior to September 30, 2008, is not caused by the action, inaction, or delay on the part of the county.
(iv) That the agreement can reasonably be executed on or before December 31, 2008.
(B) If that declaration is signed pursuant to subparagraph (A), the application of the multiplier described in paragraph (1) shall be tolled through December 31, 2008. If the transfer agreement is executed by December 31, 2008, the multiplier shall not apply. Justification for a joint declaration shall be limited to either of the following:
(i) The failure to execute the transfer agreement was caused by the action, inaction, or delay of a third party, or a party to the transaction other than the county.
(ii) The Administrative Office of the Courts and the county have agreed to pursue an alternative method for complying with a seismic liability obligation under the provisions of Section 70324 and failure to execute the transfer agreement was caused by unique circumstances directly connected to the implementation of the alternative method authorized by the section.
(3) In exercising the authority provided under paragraph (2), a county shall not arbitrarily or capriciously request a joint declaration without a good faith belief that the conditions for that declaration are met, and the Administrative Office of the Courts shall not arbitrarily or capriciously decline to sign a joint declaration described in paragraph (2) if the conditions for that declaration are otherwise met.
(4) Copies of any joint declarations described in paragraph (2) will be transmitted upon their signing by both parties to the chairpersons of the Senate and Assembly Committees on Budget, Appropriations, and Judiciary.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any transfer agreement that is executed on or after April 1, 2009, shall contain a requirement that the county pay, in addition to the county facility payment established pursuant to Article 5 (commencing with Section 70351), a continuing amount from the date of transfer calculated by multiplying the county facilities payment by the year-to-year percentage change in the annual state appropriations limit as described in Section 3 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution for the year in which the transfer agreement is executed.
(Amended by Stats. 2009, Ch. 140, Sec. 91. (AB 1164) Effective January 1, 2010.)