Perhaps because of its size, no state has attracted more national attention to court funding (or lack of court funding) than California. There are some who argue that the California courts funding problem were a result of the decision to go to state funding and just about as many who argue that state funding is not the culprit.  A working group established by the Chief Justice and the Governor to evaluate state trial court funding will held its first meeting on November 6 in Sacramento.

Governor Brown proposed establishing the working group to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the state’s progress in achieving the goals outlined in the Lockyer-Isenberg Trial Court Funding Act of 1997. That legislation provided that the state assume primary responsibility for funding trial court operations.

The new Trial Court Funding Workgroup consists of 10 members, 6 selected by the Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye and 4 selected by Governor Brown.