UPE and Sacramento Superior Court met and conferred on June 18, 2024, regarding the rollout of a new portal for clients to request fee reductions for traffic citations. The Judicial Council created the new portal in response to legislation passed in 2021. The new portal will allow clients to plead guilty to citations and request a reduction in fees without having to go to the Court. Based on rollouts at other Courts around the state, Sacramento Superior Court expects a reduction in the number of clients coming to the Courthouse. The Court is hopeful it can reduce from 2 arraignment courts to 1 arraignment court.
Currently, requests for reductions are handled in person at the Courthouse. The manual process will remain in place. With the My Citation Portal, the work of UPE classifications will not change.
Courtroom Clerks will continue to review applications and make notations for the Judicial Officer to make a determination. Now, the applications will be accessed through a queue generated by the My Citation Portal instead of the EDS system. The Court anticipates reducing Court time for Courtroom Clerks in order to provide sufficient time to review the increased online applications. UPE assured staff will receive adequate training and that the Court will continue to allot members sufficient time to complete their tasks. Courtroom Clerks will not be required to work on applications while in the Courtroom only during scheduled back-office hours. The new system will go live on June 26th, just before the state-mandated June 30th deadline. If members have any questions or concerns, please reach out to UPE.
UPE thanks governing board members Suzette Cade, Andrea Howard, Julie Valdivia, Nancy Wallace, Alison Saltonstall, Liz Teklinsky, Tammi Boxer, Shawn Boxer, and Christina Arcuri for participating and advocating at this meeting.