Judicial Council v. Superior Court

I. INTRODUCTION

Defendants, the Judicial Council of California (the council) and Administrative Office of the Courts, have filed a mandate petition. Defendants seek to compel the respondent court to grant their summary judgment motion. Defendants argue they are entitled to summary judgment because plaintiff, Mari Bean, failed to present a government claim to the Secretariat of the Judicial Council (the secretariat).

In this extraordinary writ proceeding, we must apply 2002 and 2010 enactments specifying the manner of presenting government claims naming defendants. Government Code section 915, subdivisions (c) and (e) specify the manner of presenting a government claim naming defendants. (Stats. 2002, ch. 1001, § 7, pp. 6324, 6345-6346; Stats. 2010, ch. 636, § 6.) Section 915, subdivision (c) identifies how a government claim may be served on a judicial branch entity by mail or personal delivery. In this case, the government claim must be mailed or personally delivered to the secretariat. Section 915, subdivision (e)(4) explains that even if the government claim is not mailed or personally delivered, it is sufficient if the secretariat actually receives it. As we will…