The Santa Maria Mediation and Family Law Facilitator Offices Have Moved

The Santa Maria Mediation and Family Law Facilitator Offices have MOVED to the new building on the main Santa Maria Court campus.  They are located on the SECOND FLOOR of the new building.  For assistance, call the Family Mediation Office at (805) 614-6429. Campus Map here.

July 23, 2010 – NR # 33/2010                             Telephone: 415-865-7720 / 7740 

Judicial Council Court Forms
Now Savable Online

San Francisco—Thanks to the efforts of the Superior Court of Orange County, 937 Judicial Council forms can now be filled out online and saved on computers without the need for users to purchase any software.

“All court users – especially self-represented litigants – will benefit from having savable forms online,” stated Presiding Judge Kim G. Dunning of the Superior Court of Orange County. 

Judicial Council forms assist court filers in many areas of the law including civil, family, juvenile, small claims, and traffic matters. Forms are also available for persons requesting protective orders and name changes. 

In the past, form users were able to fill out a form online, but had to print it out immediately because it could not be saved.  The new savable format allows users to take their time in filling out forms, gather additional information as needed, make corrections, and then save the document.   

The new capability will help litigants and the courts because forms that are printed out and filed with the court will be better prepared. Filers also will be able to save digital copies of the forms that they have kept for their records. 

With the savable forms, self-help and other service centers will be able to work with clients over several sessions without losing any work performed online.  

Judicial Council forms may be found at http://www.courts.ca.gov/. Over the last 90 days, the forms have been downloaded more than 1.8 million times from this web site.

The new savable forms can be filled out and saved using the free Adobe Acrobat Reader, version 7.0 or later. On the last page of each form, a “Save” button prompts the user to save the form. “Print” and “Clear” buttons have also been provided in those cases where users may fill out a form on a public or shared computer.

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The Judicial Council is the policymaking body of the California courts, the largest court system in the nation. Under the leadership of the Chief Justice and in accordance with the California Constitution, the council is responsible for ensuring the consistent, independent, impartial, and accessible administration of justice. The Administrative Office of the Courts carries out the official actions of the council and ensures leadership and excellence in court administration.

Public Access to Judicial Administrative Records

Effective January 1, 2010, Rule 10.500 of the California Rules of Court established comprehensive public access rules applicable to judicial administrative records maintained by state trial and appellate courts, the Judicial Council, and the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC).

This rule applies to non-adjudicative records and does not apply to court records or documents in any case filed in the Superior Court. Please contact the Clerk’s office at the division where the matter was heard to obtain copies of non-confidential case records.  Please also be advised that the Court is not required to produce special reports which do not already exist or to compile data.

Electronic access to the Court’s civil case index is available online at: http://www.sbcourts.org/pubindex/ .

Electronic access to Court Calendars is available at: http://www.sbcourts.org/pubcal/ . 

Mr. Gary M. Blair
Executive Officer
Santa Barbara County Superior Court
1100 Anacapa Street, Second Floor
Santa Barbara, Ca. 93101

The Superior Court’s public office hours are 8:00 am -3:00 pm, Monday - Friday
The Superior Court will make identifiable judicial administrative records available upon request, unless the records are exempt from disclosure under Rule 10.500. Records may be subject to payment of a fee (see Fee Guidelines (PDF) and subdivision (e) (4) of rule 10.500)

JURY SCAM ALERT

Although the Court does not know of any such activity in Santa Barbara County, this scam has been reported in other California counties and in other states as well.  If you receive such a telephone call, please contact your local Jury Services office to report this information.  For South County Jury Services call (805) 882-4530 and for North County Jury Services call (805) 614-6464. Additional information on Jury Scams can be found on the Judicial Branch website - click here

New Superior Court Voice Communications System

The Santa Barbara Superior Court has installed and converted to a new voice communications system to replace the County-supplied telephone system currently in use. The new communications system includes an enterprise IP phone system and an Intervoice automated business process system for voice and web. New telephone numbers will be assigned to most employees and Divisions in our North and South County regions. The exceptions to this conversion are the Pre-Trial Services Division and the Interactive Voice Response system used for payment of fines in criminal and traffic cases.

The cutover to the Superior Court new telephone system is July 1, 2008. Effective July 1, 2008, please utilize this new list of Santa Barbara Superior Court telephone numbers. Please advise all staff of this change, and direct them to the Superior Court website for new court telephone and fax numbers effective Tuesday, July 1, 2008.

• Click here for the updated Superior Court Public Directory

NOTICE OF Revised and Clarified Civil Fees

Date:          December 21, 2007
To:            Court Community and Justice System Partners

The Judicial Council of California has announced that new, revised, and clarified civil fees will go into effect in the state’s Superior Court effective January 1, 2008.  Assembly Bill 1248 (Chapter 738, Statutes of 2007) makes technical and clarifying changes to the Uniform Civil Fees and Standard Fee Schedule Act, which, among other things, streamlined and simplified civil fees by rolling the current varied surcharges and add-on fees into one filing fee. The changes in the court fees were designed to create statewide consistency in filing fees and to help ensure stable funding, while maintaining access and continuing a high level of public service in the California Superior Court. 

Key fee changes include:

• New fees for amending small claims filings;
• New fees for amending complaints and cross-complaints in limited civil cases;
• New fees for writ of petition in limited civil cases;
• Revised fees for appeals in limited civil cases;
• Clarification of when fees do or do not apply in various probate filings; and
• Change in the payment of the graduated probate fees.

Each superior court will begin collecting the new, revised, and clarified fees effective January 1, 2008. 

The new statewide fee schedule is attached and can be found on our website at www.sbcourts.org or on the California Courts Web site at http://www.courts.ca.gov/courtadmin/civilfees.htm and is available at the clerk’s office in each court location.  In addition, information about applicable local fees and answers to specific questions can also be obtained at the clerk’s office.

Gary M. Blair
Superior Court Executive Officer

NOVEMBER 26, 2007:

NOTICE:

The Santa Barbara Anacapa Courthouse construction has been completed.The clerk's office will once again be open at the original location starting 8 a.m. Monday November 26, 2007.

Court Administration

JUNE 29, 2007:

Phone and web payment systems will be down at the close of business today Friday June 29, 2007 @ 5pm until Monday July 2, 2007. The online and phone payment systems will be back online Monday July 2, 2007. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. If you would like to pay your fine, please use the envelope provided with your courtesy notice. Otherwise, please visit our office during regular business hours to make your payment or use the drop box.

We appreciate your patience while we update our systems.

• NEW STATEWIDE UNIFORM CIVIL FILING FEE SCHEDULE
  (Effective 1/1/06)
• NEWS RELEASE: New Fee Structure, Increases Take Effect on January 1, 2006
• FACT SHEET: Fee Structure Fact Sheet

POTENTIAL JURY SCAM

Be careful what information you reveal over the phone. Santa Barbara County Superior Court officials are aware of identity thieves targeting residents and threatening them for failing to report for jury service. The thieves then asked for confidential information. The Court and Jury Services staff will NEVER ask for Social Security Numbers, credit card numbers, bank account numbers or other similar information. Do not give out such information over the phone to anyone who calls you claiming to be with the Superior Court.

NOTICE

TO: All Counsel and Members of the Public

FROM: Gary M. Blair, Superior Court Executive Officer

RE: Clerk’s Office Public Business Hours;
New Online Civil Index of Cases

Date: September 30, 2005

In July 2003, our court established shortened public business hours and began closing our clerk’s office doors at 3:00 p.m. This was done in response to a worsening state budget crisis that deeply impacted court budgets. We took several measures to avoid drastic service or staff reductions. These included employee furloughs, a limited hiring freeze, and a “slow” hiring process (among many other measures) on positions that became vacant. The scaled back public hours provided our office staff additional uninterrupted time to process documents that were filed each day, enter data into our case management system, etc., at a time when we had reduced staffing levels. The court very much appreciates all of your hard work and efforts throughout this challenging time period.

Although the state budget is always precarious, this 2005-06 fiscal year is the first in the last three years in which California Courts have not experienced huge overall budget reductions. Indeed, we have lifted our limited hiring freeze and are filling positions.

Now is the time that we need to restore our public business hours and emphasize our public service function. Effective this Monday, October 3, 2005, our public business hours will be extended by one hour. We will be open for business with the public from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in all of our clerk’s office locations.

The Superior Court will also be providing an additional capability that will benefit the public and attorneys. Also effective on Monday, October 3, 2005, there will be 24-hour Internet access to the Online Civil Public Index on www.sbcourts.org/pubindex/. The index includes cases from l975 for General Civil/Family/Probate and from 1997 for Limited Civil cases. There are a limited number of cases filed as far back as the 1920s included in the index. The index may be viewed on computers worldwide from the court's Web site. Records can be found by searching for a case number or a party's name. There is no cost to search the Public Index online.

Thank you for all of your patience and support during these challenging times.

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT
NOTICE OF FEE CHANGE EFFECTIVE JULY 19, 2005

Traffic Violator School Fee (VC 11205):

For all traffic citations issued on or after July 19, 2005, and for which traffic school is an option available and chosen by the violator, the Traffic Violator School Fee will be increased to $14. This increase is in accordance with Vehicle Code 11205 which states:

(m) The Court may charge a traffic violator a fee to defray the costs incurred by the agency for monitoring reports and services provided to the court. …Fees shall be approved and regulated by the court.

The Superior Court Executive Committee met on July 12, 2005 and unanimously approved this increase pursuant to the authority set forth in the above-cited section of the Vehicle Code.

The Traffic Violator Fee is collected for the California Traffic Safety Institute to help pay for the services provided to the court.

Thank you for your cooperation,

Gary M. Blair
Superior Court Executive Officer

Beginning March 1^st, 2005, Santa Barbara County Superior Court launched its new Web interface for Criminal cases. Defendants will be able to pay their fines, find out court appearance information, or if they have an outstanding warrant on this website.

Printable versions of the
2005 Santa Barbara Bail Schedules now available:

Felony/Misdemeanor Bail Schedule
Uniform Bail and Penalty Schedule: Misdemeanors and Infractions

Two methods for printing:

1. Print from website:
• For the Felony Bail Schedule, link to:
  http://www.sbcourts.org/general_info/BailSchedule/FelonyBailSched.pdf
• For the Misdemeanor and Infraction Bail Schedule, link to:
  http://www.sbcourts.org/general_info/BailSchedule/BailSched.pdf
  
  • Print using printer button on Menu Bar or “File/Print”
     
2. Download and print from your hard drive:
   • Link to: http://www.sbcourts.org/general_info/BailSchedule/
   • Highlight either “Felony/Misdemeanor Bail Schedule” or “Uniform Bail and Penalty Schedule: Misdemeanors and Infractions” (updated 01/2005)
   • Right click and choose “Save Target As”. This will now allow you to choose the path on your desktop where you want the file to be saved
   • Open file on your desktop and print as usual (or Print from Explorer by right clicking on file and choosing Print)

Click here to view Order Permitting Remote Electronic Access to Public Court Records in the case of:

PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, Plaintiff
vs
MICHAEL JACKSON, et al, Defendant

Please click here for new and revised Judicial Council forms effective January 1, 2005

Beginning December 1^st, 2004, Santa Barbara County Superior Court launched its new Web interface for Traffic and Minor Offense citations. Citation recipients will be able to pay their bail, extend their court appearance date, or if eligible sign-up for Traffic school.

NOTICE OF FEE CHANGES EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY AND JANUARY 1, 2005

IMPORTANT NOTICE:
SANTA MARIA JUVENILE COURT ADDRESS CHANGE

Effective November 1, 2004, the Santa Maria Juvenile Division of the Superior Court will will have a new address. The new address will be:

Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara
Santa Maria Juvenile Court
4285 California Blvd, Suite B
Santa Maria, CA 93455

Phone and facsimile numbers remain the same.

Gary M. Blair
Executive Officer & Clerk of Superior Court