Existing law, the Sargent Shriver Civil Counsel Act, requires the appointment of legal counsel to represent low-income parties in civil matters involving critical issues affecting basic human needs in courts selected by the Judicial Council. The act requires the Judicial Council to develop one or more programs to provide competitive grants to provide legal counsel to low-income persons who require legal services in civil matters involving specific types of civil matters, including, among others, housing-related matters, probate conservatorships, guardianships, and domestic violence and civil harassment restraining orders. Existing law requires the Judicial Council to consider various factors, including, among others, the unmet need for legal services in the geographic area to be served, in selecting and renewing participating programs. Existing law requires program applicants, among other things, to describe how the program would be administered and the means by which the program would serve the particular needs of the community, such as by providing representation to limited-English-speaking clients.

Commencing January 1, 2025, this bill would require courts to report specified information to the Judicial Council each month regarding unlawful detainer cases, aggregated by ZIP Code. The bill also would require courts to report to the Judicial Council case summary data on COVID-19 Rental Debt in Small Claims Court, aggregated by ZIP Code. The bill would require the Judicial Council, every 4 months, to post all information received about unlawful detainer cases in a publicly available electronic spreadsheet that may be downloaded from its internet website.