Report 2017-302 Recommendation 6 Responses

Report 2017-302: Judicial Council of California: It Needs to Follow Competitive Bidding Processes More Consistently and Establish Clear Guidance for Invoice Processing (Release Date: December 2017)

Recommendation #6 To: Judicial Council of California

To help ensure that the Judicial Council complies with state reporting requirements related to conflicts of interest, it should report to the appropriate authority any staff who do not file statements of economic interests after reasonable attempts to prompt them to file, as described in guidance from the Fair Political Practices Commission. Further, the Judicial Council should complete its procedures to improve compliance and implement them beginning in January 2018.

6-Month Agency Response

In February 2018, Judicial Council staff revised personnel policy #8.3(C) to include a statement that non-filers will be reported to the Fair Political Practices Commission and may be assessed a late fee of $10 per day. Judicial Council staff also developed a standard e-mail template to inform staff that failure to report will be disclosed to the FPPC. Judicial Council staff have attached revised policy #8.3(C).

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Fully Implemented

60-Day Agency Response

Staff from the Judicial Council's Human Resources unit have developed policies and procedures to better ensure staff submit their economic interest disclosure forms timely. Such policies include a process to report non-filers to the Fair Political Practices Commission after repeated reminders to staff are unsuccessful. These policies and procedures are currently under management review and staff expect to publish them in March 2018.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending

All Recommendations in 2017-302

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.