The Judicial Council of California retired use of the term “Administrative Office of the Courts” for its staff at its Tuesday meeting to avoid confusion, council officials said today.
California Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye asked the council to stop using the term last month.
“When I and others advocate for the public on behalf of the judicial branch we often encounter confusion among those who think that the Judicial Council and the Administrative Office of the Courts are two separate entities. They’re not,” Cantil-Sakauye said in a June statement.
The Judicial Council is the governing body of the California court system and the administrative office referred to its staff, which carried out its policies and directives.
“Unifying the council and its staff under one name, Judicial Council, will create more clarity and transparency about the role and governance responsibilities of the Judicial Council,” Cantil-Sakauye said.
“It also mirrors the standard practice of other government bodies who do not provide separate names for their staffs,” she said.
The duties and responsibilities of the council’s staff will not change with the name change, however.
Chair of the council’s Rules and Projects Committee Justice Harry Hull Jr. said the decision was to “merely retire the name without changing the functions, duties, responsibilities or obligations of the council or its staff.”
Scott Morris, Bay City News
