Opinion No. (1998)

DANIEL E. LUNGREN Attorney General ANTHONY S. Da VIGO Deputy Attorney General THE HONORABLE ANN MILLER RAVEL, COUNTY COUNSEL, COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA, has requested an opinion on the following question: May a county maintain by electronic means a docket in the criminal proceedings of all trial courts within the county? CONCLUSION A county may maintain by electronic means a docket in the criminal proceedings of all trial courts within the county. ANALYSIS We are asked whether a county may maintain electronically a criminal docket for all trial courts, including the superior court, of the county. A criminal docket contains the title of each criminal action or proceeding filed in the court and a listing of all court orders for each action or proceeding. (Pen. Code, § 1428 .) We conclude that a county has statutory authority to maintain electronically a criminal docket for all its trial courts. A county possesses and can exercise only such powers as are granted to it by the Constitution or by statute, together with those powers as arise by necessary implication from those expressly granted. (Gov. Code, § 23003 ; Byers v. Board of Supervisors (1968) 262 Cal.App.2d 148 , 157 ;…