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Superior Court v. County of Mendocino (1996) :: :: Supreme Court of California Decisions :: California Case Law :: California Law :: US Law :: Justia
Justia › US Law › Case Law › California Case Law › Cal. 4th › Volume 13 › Superior Court v. County of Mendocino (1996)
Superior Court v. County of Mendocino (1996)
Government Code section 68108 fn. 1 authorizes a county, under specified circumstances, to designate "unpaid furlough days" on which the trial courts of the county generally "shall not be in session." In this case, we are called upon to decide whether this statute is unconstitutional on its face. The trial court rejected the facial challenge to the constitutionality of section 68108, but the Court of Appeal disagreed, concluding that the statute represents "a legislative exercise of judicial power" and violates the separation of powers doctrine embodied in article III, section 3, of the California Constitution. [13 Cal. 4th 49]
Shortly after section 68108 was enacted, the Board of Supervisors of Mendocino County (hereafter the Board of Supervisors, or the Board) ratified memoranda of understanding with county employees that provided [13 Cal. 4th 50] for six specified unpaid furlough days during the 1993-1994 fiscal year. (The specified furlough days were Friday, October 8, 1993; Friday, November 12, 1993; Monday, January 3, 1994; Friday, January 14, 1994; Friday, February 18, 1994; and Friday, May 27, 1994.)
On October 8, 1993, and November 12, 1993, the first two designated unpaid furlough days, all county offices and the municipal and justice courts in the county were closed. The Superior Court, however, directed all county employees assigned to the Superior Court to report for work on those dates. On October 14, 1993, and November 19, 1993, the Superior Court issued orders to the Board of Supervisors, the county administrative officer, and the county auditor/controller, directing the county to provide funding for the salaries of the employees assigned to the Superior Court who had worked on the furlough days. [13 Cal. 4th 51]
The Superior Court appealed from the judgment denying its petition for writ of mandate. The Court of Appeal, in a two-to-one decision, concluded that section 68108 on its face violates the Constitution's separation of powers provision, because the statute authorizes legislative exercise of a power reserved to the judiciary, namely "the inherent power of the courts to control their own hours and days of operation, as they determine to be appropriate." (Original italics.) The dissenting justice in the Court of Appeal disagreed, concluding that "[w]hile ... a court might in certain circumstances show that a statute relating to court hours as applied precluded it from performing its judicial duties" (original italics), the challenged statute [13 Cal. 4th 52] was not unconstitutional on its face, because it could be applied in a manner that would not have such a deleterious effect. fn. 4
[1] Although the language of California Constitution article III, section 3, may suggest a sharp demarcation between the operations of the three branches of government, California decisions long have recognized that, in reality, the separation of powers doctrine " 'does not mean that the three departments of our government are not in many respects mutually dependent' " (Solberg v. Superior Court (1977) 19 Cal. 3d 182, 191 [137 Cal. Rptr. 460, 561 P.2d 1148]), or that the actions of one branch may not significantly affect those of another branch. Indeed, upon brief reflection, the substantial [13 Cal. 4th 53] interrelatedness of the three branches' actions is apparent and commonplace: the judiciary passes upon the constitutional validity of legislative and executive actions, the Legislature enacts statutes that govern the procedures and evidentiary rules applicable in judicial and executive proceedings, and the Governor appoints judges and participates in the legislative process through the veto power. Such interrelationship, of course, lies at the heart of the constitutional theory of "checks and balances" that the separation of powers doctrine is intended to serve.
At the same time, this doctrine unquestionably places limits upon the actions of each branch with respect to the other branches. The judiciary, in reviewing statutes enacted by the Legislature, may not undertake to evaluate the wisdom of the policies embodied in such legislation; absent a constitutional prohibition, the choice among competing policy considerations in enacting laws is a legislative function. (See, e.g., Werner v. Southern Cal. etc. Newspapers (1950) 35 Cal. 2d 121, 129-130 [216 P.2d 825, 13 A.L.R.2d 252].) The executive branch, in expending public funds, may not disregard legislatively prescribed directives and limits pertaining to the use of such funds. (See, e.g., Assembly v. Public Utilities Com. (1995) 12 Cal. 4th 87, 98-104 [48 Cal. Rptr. 2d 54, 906 P.2d 1209].) And the Legislature may not undertake to readjudicate controversies that have been litigated in the courts and resolved by final judicial judgment. (Mandel v. Myers (1981) 29 Cal. 3d 531, 547-550 [174 Cal. Rptr. 841, 629 P.2d 935]; Plaut v. Spendthrift Farm, Inc. (1995) 514 U.S. 211, ___ [131 L. Ed. 2d 328, 342-346, 115 S. Ct. 1447, 1453-1456].)
In reaching this conclusion, the Court of Appeal looked initially to several of this court's prior decisions-Brydonjack v. State Bar (1929) 208 Cal. 439 [281 P. 1018, 66 A.L.R. 1507], Millholen v. Riley (1930) 211 Cal. 29 [293 P. 69], Johnson v. Superior Court (1958) 50 Cal. 2d 693 [329 P.2d 5], and In re McKinney (1968) 70 Cal. 2d 8 [73 Cal. Rptr. 580, 447 P.2d 972]-that addressed the subject of "inherent judicial power" and the validity of legislative actions relating to the judicial branch. We agree that the Brydonjack, Millholen, Johnson, and McKinney decisions are an appropriate place to begin our analysis of the Superior Court's separation of powers claim. [13 Cal. 4th 54]
With these constitutional principles in mind, the court in Brydonjack went on to examine the provision of the State Bar Act in question, and concluded [13 Cal. 4th 55] that the statute did not make binding upon the court the Committee of Bar Examiners' decision regarding admission. (208 Cal. at p. 445.)
After quoting a portion of the passage from Brydonjack that we have set out above-including the part stating that "the legislature may put reasonable restrictions upon constitutional functions of the courts provided they do not defeat or materially impair the exercise of those functions" (Brydonjack v. State Bar, supra, 208 Cal. at p. 444)-the court in Millholen continued: "Admittedly, therefore, the legislature, within the foregoing limitations, could in its wisdom provide the compensation that should be paid petitioner and could delegate that duty to a bureau of the executive department thereof. [13 Cal. 4th 56] As is said in Nicholl v. Koster [(1910)] 157 Cal. 416, 423 [108 P. 302]: 'The legislature may indeed provide for the appointment of such assistants of the court by the executive department, or by [the] election of the people, and thus relieve the court of the burden of choosing such persons. But if the legislature or the Constitution should fail to provide such persons, a court invested with jurisdiction would have all the powers necessary to its convenient exercise and could appoint such assistants as might be required.' " (Millholen v. Riley, supra, 211 Cal. at p. 34.)
In Johnson v. Superior Court, supra, 50 Cal. 2d 693, the court addressed the question whether Code of Civil Procedure section 170.6, which permits a party to disqualify a judge of a trial court simply by filing an affidavit of prejudice against the judge, was unconstitutional as an unwarranted legislative interference with the power of the courts. Noting that this court previously had held that "[t]he Legislature may adopt reasonable rules and regulations regarding the disqualification of judges" (50 Cal.2d at p. 696, citing Caminetti v. Pac. Mutual L. Ins. Co. (1943) 22 Cal. 2d 386 [139 P.2d 930]), the court in Johnson concluded that the Legislature had "acted within its power to adopt reasonable regulations when it provided that, for the limited purposes of section 170.6, prejudice may be established by the filing of an affidavit sworn to by a party or his attorney, without judicial determination of the existence of the fact." (50 Cal.2d at p. 697.) Although the court in Johnson recognized that it was possible "that the section may be abused by parties seeking to delay trial or to obtain a favorable judge" (ibid.), the court concluded that that possibility "was a matter to be balanced by the Legislature against the desirability of the objective of the statute.... We cannot properly assume that there will be a wholesale making of false [13 Cal. 4th 57] statements under oath, and the fact that some persons may abuse the section is not a ground for holding the provision to be unconstitutional." (Ibid.; see also Solberg v. Superior Court, supra, 19 Cal. 3d 182 [reaffirming the holding in Johnson, and rejecting an "as applied" challenge to the statute].)
Finally, in In re McKinney, supra, 70 Cal. 2d 8, this court addressed a constitutional challenge, based upon the separation of powers doctrine, to a statute that fixed the punishment for contempt of court. In upholding the constitutionality of the statute, the court in McKinney explained: "It is well established ... that a court has inherent power to punish contempts of court. [Citations.] [¶] It does not, however, follow that the Legislature may not place reasonable limitations on this inherent power.... [¶] ... '[I]t may be conceded that a statute without constitutional authority therefor, which takes from the court all power to punish for contempt, or fixes a penalty wholly inadequate for the purpose, would not be countenanced by the courts. Nevertheless, ... we are not prepared to adopt respondent's theory that our constitutional courts possess inherent power to the full extent as did the courts of England, which in some cases we find imposed enormous fines and imprisonment for years. To do so would not only be inconsistent with the spirit and genius of our institutions, but likewise would be tantamount to a denial of legislative power to regulate the practice and procedure by which our courts are governed ....' " (Id. at pp. 10-11.)
It does not follow, however, that the Legislature necessarily violates the separation of powers doctrine whenever it legislates with regard to such an inherent judicial power or function. As Brydonjack recognizes, the circumstance that admission to the bar is an inherent judicial function does not [13 Cal. 4th 58] prevent the Legislature from enacting legislation that regulates admission to the bar. Similarly, Millholen recognizes that the circumstance that, even in the absence of applicable legislation, a court may hire staff to assist it in its operations does not mean that the Legislature is constitutionally barred from authorizing some other entity to establish the compensation of court staff. Finally, as McKinney demonstrates, the circumstance that the court has inherent power to punish contempt does not mean the Legislature is powerless to enact statutes regulating contempt procedures or punishment. Of course, as the Brydonjack decision recognizes, the separation of powers doctrine places limits upon legislative action in this arena: "the [L]egislature may put reasonable restrictions upon constitutional functions of the courts provided they do not defeat or materially impair the exercise of those functions." (Brydonjack v. State Bar, supra, 208 Cal. at p. 444, italics added.)
As is demonstrated by the decisions reviewed above, however, the circumstance that a court has, in this sense, "inherent power" to control the hours and days of its operations does not mean that every legislative regulation in this area is prohibited by the separation of powers doctrine. As we have seen, the cases recognize that the Legislature generally may adopt reasonable regulations affecting a court's inherent powers or functions, so long as the legislation does not "defeat" or "materially impair" a court's exercise of [13 Cal. 4th 59] its constitutional power or the fulfillment of its constitutional function. (Brydonjack v. State Bar, supra, 208 Cal. 439, 444.) fn. 6
[4a] The question posed by the present proceeding is whether section 68108, in authorizing a county to designate unpaid furlough days on which the superior court of the county "shall not be in session," is unconstitutional on its face. Although the Superior Court alleged in its complaint that the closing of the court on the unpaid furlough days designated by the county "will prevent the court from fulfilling its statutorily and constitutionally mandated duties," the county denied that allegation in its answer, and the trial court, in ruling upon the Superior Court's petition for a writ of mandate, did not purport to resolve that dispute but rather addressed only the Superior Court's facial constitutional challenge to the statute. Thus, although the Superior Court claims that, in light of its own particular workload and staffing, the furlough program adopted by the county for the 1993-1994 fiscal year would, in fact, "materially impair" the court's fulfillment of its constitutional function within the meaning of the Brydonjack case, we do not believe that that issue-which amounts to an "as applied " constitutional challenge to the statute-is properly before us in this proceeding. fn. 7 [13 Cal. 4th 60]
Confining our consideration to the question of the facial constitutionality of section 68108, we believe it is clear that the decisions in Brydonjack, Millholen, Johnson, and McKinney do not support the Court of Appeal's determination that the statute is unconstitutional on its face. In our view, it cannot reasonably be suggested that, under any and all circumstances, a county's designation of one or more unpaid furlough days pursuant to section 68108 necessarily will "defeat" or "materially impair" a court's fulfillment of its constitutional duties. (At oral argument, the Superior Court urged that we find that even a single day of court closure per year would have this effect.) It is possible, for example, that the caseload of a superior or [13 Cal. 4th 61] municipal court at a particular time might permit closing the court on one or more furlough days without a serious debilitating effect upon the court's ability to fulfill its constitutional functions. Under the cases reviewed above, the circumstance that the provisions of section 68108 might be implemented in a manner that would defeat or materially impair a court's ability to perform its functions is not a proper basis for holding the statute unconstitutional on its face.
The Superior Court maintains, however, that even if a county's designation of unpaid furlough days under section 68108 will not necessarily or inevitably defeat or materially impair a court's ability to perform its constitutional functions, the statute nonetheless should be found unconstitutional on its face on the ground that the power to designate the days upon which a court will or will not be open is a function reserved by the California Constitution exclusively to the judicial branch. We have recognized that there are some functions performed by the judicial branch that the separation of power doctrine prohibits the Legislature from exercising under any circumstances. Thus, for example, the Legislature may not readjudicate a specific controversy that has been heard by a court and resolved by final judgment. (Mandel v. Myers, supra, 29 Cal. 3d 531, 547-550.) The Superior Court argues that the designation of days on which a court shall not be in session likewise should be considered a function that the Constitution reserves exclusively to the courts.
As a historical matter, the Superior Court's argument clearly is untenable. [5] It generally has been recognized, in jurisdictions throughout the nation, that a legislative body is authorized to declare and designate legal holidays, and either provide that the courts shall be closed entirely on such designated days or specify the particular types of judicial acts that may be performed on such days. (See, e.g., Stone v. United States (1897) 167 U.S. 178, 194-196 [42 L. Ed. 127, 133-134, 17 S. Ct. 778]; see generally, 73 Am.Jur.2d, Sundays & Holidays, §§ 103-106, pp. 860-863.) As one annotation observes: "It has been held that under statutes prohibiting courts from conducting business on a holiday, except for limited purposes, a judgment or order, not within such limited purposes, issued on a holiday ... is invalid." (Annot. (1962) 85 A.L.R.2d 595, 602, fn. omitted.) We have found no case suggesting that the authority to designate legal holidays or nonjudicial days on which courts shall not be in session is exclusively a judicial function, or that a legislative body violates the separation of powers doctrine when it establishes such a legal holiday or nonjudicial day.
The history of holiday authorization legislation in California is consistent with the general rule in other jurisdictions, at least with regard to the [13 Cal. 4th 62] operations of the trial courts. From the earliest days of statehood, the Legislature has exercised the authority to designate legal holidays and nonjudicial days, and to specify which trial court actions, if any, may be conducted on such days. (See, e.g., Stats. 1863, ch. 260, §§ 70, 71, p. 343; Code Civ. Proc., former §§ 133-135 [enacted 1872].) The current general statutory provisions pertaining to judicial holidays, which address the subject comprehensively and in considerable detail, reflect the Legislature's traditionally understood authority to act in this realm. (See Code Civ. Proc., §§ 133-136.) fn. 8 Past California decisions uniformly have recognized the general validity of such legislation and have held that trial court orders, issued on a legislatively designated judicial holiday but not authorized by the applicable statute, are void or voidable. (See, e.g., People v. Soto (1884) 65 Cal. 621, 621-622 [4 P. 664]; Matter of Smith (1907) 152 Cal. 566, 568-572 [93 P. 191]; Jackson v. Dolan (1922) 58 Cal. App. 372, 374-375 [208 P. [13 Cal. 4th 63] 315].) Furthermore, past cases also disclose that it is by no means unprecedented for legal holidays or nonjudicial days to be declared as a result of fiscal considerations. In Diepenbrock v. Superior Court (1908) 153 Cal. 597, 599 [95 P. 1121], for example, this court noted that "in the autumn of 1907, owing to the financial crisis through which the state was passing, it had been deemed necessary by the governor to declare a series of holidays."
Finally, in 1966, as part of a general revision of article VI, these two clauses of former article VI, section 5, were removed from the Constitution. The report of the California Constitutional Revision Commission that proposed the 1966 changes specifically listed these two clauses of former article VI, section 5, among a number of provisions of former article VI "that were deleted but will be called to the attention of the Legislature for consideration as statutes." (Cal. Const. Revision Com., Proposed Revision of arts. III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, XXIV of the Cal. Const. (Feb. 1966) pp. 102, 103.) In describing why such provisions were not included within the revised Constitution, the report explains: "The conversion to statutory form may be advisable for one or more reasons. First, the provision may be so detailed as to have no place in a constitution, which is supposed to set forth the 'organic law.' Second, the provisions may be of a nature requiring flexibility that only the statutory form can provide." (Id. at p. 102.) fn. 9 [13 Cal. 4th 64]
As the foregoing summary indicates, nothing in the current provisions of the California Constitution indicates that the Legislature lacks authority to enact statutory provisions designating holidays or other nonjudicial days on which trial courts shall not be in session. The provisions that formerly were contained in the Constitution relating to this subject were deleted in 1966, precisely because the drafters of the 1966 revision were of the view that the subject was more appropriate for statutory enactment than for inclusion in the Constitution. Moreover, even at the time the California Constitution contained a provision declaring that trial courts "shall always be open," that clause was qualified at all times by an explicit exception for "legal holidays and nonjudicial days"-days that always have been established pursuant to statute. fn. 10 [13 Cal. 4th 65]
Furthermore, unlike those instances in which it has been held that the separation of powers doctrine bars the Legislature from exercising an exclusive judicial function (such as readjudicating or setting aside a final judicial judgment), the Legislature's power to designate legal holidays or other nonjudicial days on which courts generally will be closed does not inevitably threaten the integrity or independence of the judicial process. The circumstance that a court will be closed on a particular day is unlikely to affect the resolution of a particular controversy or prevent a court from proceeding in accordance with its own view of the governing legal principles. And unlike other conceivable legislative interventions in the judicial process-for example, a legislative attempt to compel an appellate judge to employ a research attorney chosen by the legislative or executive branch (cf. Millholen v. Riley, supra, 211 Cal. 29, 34-35)-the Legislature's authority to designate days on which courts shall be closed does not intrude upon the judge's decisionmaking process or the independence of the judicial role. Under these [13 Cal. 4th 66] circumstances, and in light of the history reviewed above, we cannot agree with the Superior Court's contention that the separation of powers doctrine prohibits any legislative action that specifies days on which courts shall not be in session.
I am somewhat troubled by the majority's failure to address the question whether the Legislature had the power to delegate to the various counties [13 Cal. 4th 67] authority to declare unpaid judicial furlough days. The majority states that because the contention was not raised in the Court of Appeal, it is not properly before us. (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 66, fn. 12.) But the issue appears on the face of the statute, was at least mentioned by the Court of Appeal in its opinion, and certainly we could have requested further briefing on it.
Thus, on the face of the statutory scheme, County "A" could select no unpaid furlough days while County "B" presumably could select 200 of them. Given the potential for disruption, unfairness, and confusion that could arise if each individual county were at liberty to choose the date and number of unpaid furlough days for that particular county, the Legislature's delegation to the counties may well be subject to serious challenge. [13 Cal. 4th 68]
FN *. Judge of the Trinity Superior Court sitting under assignment by the Chairperson of the Judicial Council.
FN 1. Unless otherwise specified, all further statutory references are to the Government Code.
FN 2. Section 68108 provides in full: "(a) With respect to the superior, municipal, and justice courts, to the extent that the county's Consolidated Memorandum of Understanding for county employees designates certain days as unpaid furlough days for employees assigned to regular positions in the superior, municipal, and justice courts, including all superior court, municipal court, and county employees assigned to the courts, the courts shall not be in session on those days except as ordered by the presiding judge upon a finding by the presiding judge of a judicial emergency as defined in Chapter 1.1 (commencing with Section 68115). On these furlough days, although the clerk's office shall not be open to the public, each court shall permit documents to be filed at a drop box pursuant to subdivision (b), and an appropriate judicial officer shall be available to conduct arraignments and examinations as required pursuant to Section 825 of the Penal Code, and to sign any necessary documents on an emergency basis. [¶] (b) A drop box shall provide for an automated, official time and date stamping mechanism or other means of determining the actual date on which a document was deposited in the drop box."
FN 3. In its letter to the Board of Supervisors, the Superior Court stated that it was notifying the Board of its "particular needs," pursuant to the provisions of section 68073. At that time, section 68073 provided in relevant part: "In each county the board of supervisors shall provide suitable rooms for holding the superior, municipal, and justice courts, for the chambers of the judges of these courts and for court attendants, together with sufficient attendants, heat, light, furniture, ... and other personal property, for the rooms and chambers and for the transaction of the business of the courts.... [¶] If the board of supervisors of any county does not provide suitable rooms for holding the superior, municipal, or justice courts, ... together with sufficient attendants ..., the court shall give notice to the board of its particular needs. If the board then fails to provide anything necessary to the conduct of the court's functions, the court may direct the appropriate officers of the county to provide the same. The expenses incurred, certified by the judge or judges to be correct, are a charge against the county treasury, and shall be paid out of the General Fund." (Stats. 1984, ch. 1109, § 2, p. 3734, italics added.)
FN 4. Before reaching the constitutional issue, the Court of Appeal rejected the Superior Court's contention that, as a matter of statutory interpretation, the provisions of section 68108 could and should be interpreted, in light of section 68073 (quoted in fn. 3, ante) and related statutes, to require a county to obtain a court's consent before designating furlough days on which the court would not be in session. The Court of Appeal concluded that the language of section 68108 was clear and unambiguous, and did not require the county to obtain the approval of the Superior Court before designating furlough days under the statute. Neither party challenged that aspect of the Court of Appeal's decision, and thus the statutory interpretation question is not before us.
FN 5. As the Court of Appeal noted, at the time the notice of appeal in this matter was filed the applicable case law indicated that an appeal could be taken from a judgment denying a petition for writ of mandate where no further action on the petition was contemplated, even if, as in the present case, other causes of action still were pending between the parties. (See, e.g., Bullock v. City and County of San Francisco (1990) 221 Cal. App. 3d 1072, 1086-1087 [271 Cal. Rptr. 44]; Elmore v. Imperial Irrigation Dist. (1984) 159 Cal. App. 3d 185, 190-192 [205 Cal. Rptr. 433].) A more recent Court of Appeal decision suggests, however, that no appeal lies in this situation. (See Nerhan v. Stinson Beach County Water Dist. (1994) 27 Cal. App. 4th 536, 540 [33 Cal. Rptr. 2d 10].)
FN 6. The Superior Court places considerable emphasis on language from the decision in Millholen indicating that the Legislature may regulate the courts' operation "so long as their efficiency is not thereby impaired." (Millholen v. Riley, supra, 211 Cal. at p. 34.) This language, however, has not been, and cannot reasonably be, interpreted to mean that a legislative measure affecting a court's operations is unconstitutional whenever the enactment increases a court's burden or makes the court less "efficient," for example by adding to the court's workload without providing additional judges and staff, or by restricting the authority previously exercised by the court. Thus, in McKinney, supra, 70 Cal. 2d 8, the court did not find that the statute limiting the sanctions that a court may impose for contempt was unconstitutional (because it restricted a court's preexisting discretion to impose the sanctions the court believed necessary to control the proceedings before it), but rather indicated that such legislation would be unconstitutional only if it "takes from the court all power to punish for contempt, or fixes a penalty wholly inadequate for the purpose ...." (Id. at p. 11.) When the decisions discussed above are read as a whole, it is readily apparent that the standard they have embraced is one that looks to whether the legislation "defeats" or "materially impairs" a court's ability to perform its constitutional functions.
FN 7. In its briefing in this court, the Superior Court maintains that its "as applied" challenge to section 68108 is properly before us, and it describes as "undisputed" its contention in the trial court that the furlough days designated by the Board of Supervisors would interfere with or prevent the Superior Court's fulfillment of its constitutional duties. The Superior Court, however, did not purport to rely upon this "as applied" claim in the Court of Appeal, and, in any event, contrary to the Superior Court's assertion in this court, the allegation in its complaint that the furlough days designated by the county would prevent the court from fulfilling its constitutional duties was denied in the county's answer to the complaint. The county, in maintaining that its designation of six unpaid furlough days would not, in fact, defeat or materially impair the Superior Court's ability to fulfill the court's constitutional function, has relied in part upon the circumstance that under the current provisions of Code of Civil Procedure section 134, subdivision (c) (quoted in fn. 8, post), the Superior Court retained authority to hold court sessions on any or all of the numerous legal holidays and nonjudicial days set forth in Code of Civil Procedure section 135 and Government Code section 6700. (The record does not indicate whether the Superior Court availed itself of such authority during the period in question.)
The Superior Court's "as applied" challenge to the county's furlough program may be litigated and resolved in the cross-actions for declaratory relief that remain pending in the trial court. (Cf. Mallett v. Superior Court (1992) 6 Cal. App. 4th 1853, 1864-1879 [8 Cal. Rptr. 2d 829] [holding that, under § 68073, a municipal court's findings as to the "inadequacy" of services provided to it by the county and the "necessity" of additional expenditures are not conclusive but instead are subject to review in a judicial proceeding].)
One of the amici curiae in this matter requests that we take judicial notice of certain documents relating to court filings in Mendocino County and to the current status of funding in the trial courts throughout the state. Because the only issue before us is the facial constitutionality of section 68108, this material is not relevant and accordingly we deny the request for judicial notice. (See, e.g., Mangini v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. (1994) 7 Cal. 4th 1057, 1063 [31 Cal. Rptr. 2d 358, 875 P.2d 73].)
FN 8. Code of Civil Procedure section 133 provides: "Courts of justice may be held and judicial business transacted on any day, except as provided in this article."
FN 9. The history of the California constitutional provisions dealing with appellate courts is somewhat different.
FN 10. Past cases shed additional light on the background and significance of the "shall always be open clause" of former California Constitution article VI, section 5. Prior to the adoption of the Constitution of 1879, there were fixed terms of court, and the general rule was that any judicial act conducted by a court after its term had ended was void. (See, e.g., Bates v. Gage (1870) 40 Cal. 183, 184-185.) The Constitution of 1879 abolished terms of court, and, as a result, "whenever a judge of the superior court is present at the place designated for the transaction of judicial business, and there assumes to transact such business, his acts may be considered as the acts of the court of which he is a judge." (See Von Schmidt v. Widber (1893) 99 Cal. 511, 514 [34 P. 109].)
FN 11. In support of its contention that, under the California Constitution, courts have the exclusive authority to control the dates on which a court shall not be in session, the Superior Court relies upon the current provisions of Code of Civil Procedure section 134, subdivision (c)-enacted in 1992 (Stats. 1992, ch. 460, § 2)-which permit a superior or municipal court to remain open on a judicial holiday "as the judges of the court prescribe." (The full text of section 134, subdivision (c), is set out in footnote 8, ante.) The Superior Court suggests that this provision reflects a legislative recognition of the courts' ultimate constitutional authority in such matters.
FN 12. In its briefing in this court, the Superior Court, for the first time, contends that even if the Legislature may exercise authority to designate holidays or nonjudicial days on which the courts shall not be in session, section 68108 nonetheless should be held unconstitutional on its face on the ground that the statute improperly delegates such authority to the counties, which are left free to determine whether to establish any unpaid furlough days-and to specify the number of days, and the specific dates, that the courts of the county will not be in session. Because the Superior Court did not challenge the statute on this basis in the trial court, and did not raise this contention in the Court of Appeal, it is not properly before us.