UPE and Sacramento Superior Court continued the meet and confer process over the Court’s proposed change to the selection of Courtroom Clerks. As a reminder, the Court wants to hold all permanent Courtroom Clerk assignments until the start of the year. Currently, vacancies are filled as they become available. At most courthouses, judges without a permanent clerk are assigned alternate clerks on a three-month rotating basis. The Court claims judges want to have more permanent clerks. Therefore, the Court proposes that judges without a permanent clerk be allowed to select an unassigned Courtroom Clerk to serve in their room for the remainder of the calendar year.
UPE continued to question the logic of this decision. In particular, UPE is concerned that clerks will be stuck with judges they do not want to work with for an extended period. In addition, the change will likely result in reduced courtroom experience for unassigned courtroom clerks at outlying courthouses. This is currently the case at FRC, where all judges have permanent assignments.
UPE pointed out this issue to the Court, and the Court’s representatives asked for more time to discuss the proposal with courthouse directors and the judges. UPE hopes the Court sees the error of its ways and backs away from this proposal. UPE will continue to advocate for our Courtroom Clerks and update membership after the next meeting.
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