(a) (1) To provide shorthand reporting services to low-income litigants in civil cases, who are unable to otherwise afford those services, funds generated by fees received by the board pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 8031 in excess of funds needed to support the board’s operating budget for the fiscal year in which a transfer described below is made shall be used by the board for the purpose of establishing and maintaining a Transcript Reimbursement Fund. The Transcript Reimbursement Fund shall be funded by a transfer of funds from the Court Reporters’ Fund in the amount of three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000) annually. The board is authorized to transfer funds in increments of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) for a total of three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000). Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, a transfer to the Transcript Reimbursement Fund in excess of the fund balance established at the beginning of each fiscal year shall not be made by the board if the transfer will result in the reduction of the balance of the Court Reporters’ Fund to an amount less than six months’ operating budget.

(2) If funds are appropriated to the Transcript Reimbursement Fund from a source other than fees received by the board pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 8031, those funds shall not be subject to the annual transfer limit of three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000) described in paragraph (1).

Terms Used In California Business and Professions Code 8030.2

  • applicant: includes an indigent person appearing pro se to represent themself at any stage of the case and applying to receive funds from the Transcript Reimbursement Fund established in Section 8030. See California Business and Professions Code 8030.4
  • board: means any entity listed in Section 101, the entities referred to in Sections 1000 and 3600, the State Bar, the Department of Real Estate, and any other state agency that issues a license, certificate, or registration authorizing a person to engage in a business or profession. See California Business and Professions Code 31
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • Pro se: A Latin term meaning "on one's own behalf"; in courts, it refers to persons who present their own cases without lawyers.
  • Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
  • State: means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. See California Business and Professions Code 21
  • Subdivision: means a subdivision of the section in which that term occurs, unless some other section is expressly mentioned. See California Business and Professions Code 15
  • Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.

(b) Refunds and unexpended funds that are anticipated to remain in the Transcript Reimbursement Fund at the end of the fiscal year shall be considered by the board in establishing the fee assessment pursuant to Section 8031 so that the assessment shall maintain the level of funding for the Transcript Reimbursement Fund, as specified in subdivision (a), in the following fiscal year.

(c) The Transcript Reimbursement Fund is hereby created in the State Treasury. Notwithstanding § 13340 of the Government Code, moneys in the Transcript Reimbursement Fund are continuously appropriated for the purposes of this chapter.

(d) (1) Applicants who have been reimbursed pursuant to this chapter for services provided to litigants and who are awarded court costs or attorney’s fees by judgment or by settlement agreement shall refund the full amount of that reimbursement to the fund within 90 days of receipt of the award or settlement.

(2) An applicant appearing pro se who has been reimbursed for services provided to litigants under this chapter shall refund the full amount reimbursed if a court orders the applicant’s fee waiver withdrawn or denied retroactively pursuant to § 68636 of the Government Code, within 90 days of the court’s order withdrawing or denying the fee waiver.

(e) Subject to the limitations of this chapter, the board shall maintain the fund at a level that is sufficient to pay all qualified claims. To accomplish this objective, the board shall utilize all refunds, unexpended funds, fees, and any other moneys received by the board.

(f) Notwithstanding § 16346 of the Government Code, all unencumbered funds remaining in the Transcript Reimbursement Fund as of January 1, 2025, shall be transferred to the Court Reporters’ Fund.

(g) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2025, and as of that date is repealed.

(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 625, Sec. 69. (SB 1443) Effective January 1, 2023. Repealed as of January 1, 2025, by its own provisions.)

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