(a) (1) The Judicial Council shall conduct, or contract with an independent contractor to conduct, a reassessment of those projects identified in its Update to Trial Court Capital-Outlay Plan and Prioritization Methodology adopted on October 24, 2008, or the most recent version of that update, if any. Other projects may be included for reassessment at the discretion of the Judicial Council. The reassessment shall be submitted to the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review and the Assembly Committee on Budget by December 31, 2019.
(2) The Judicial Council may exclude from the reassessment those projects that were canceled prior to June 30, 2018, and those that were approved in the Budget Act of 2018.
(b) A project subject to this section shall be reassessed and ranked, at minimum, on each of the following:
(1) The criteria identified in the Update to Trial Court Capital-Outlay Plan and Prioritization Methodology adopted on October 24, 2008, or the most recent version of that update, if any.
(2) The level of seismic risk, environmental hazards, and other health and safety hazards.
(3) The impact on court users, including, but not limited to, the level of public access to court services, such as accessibility to the courthouse.
(4) The cost avoidance or savings that would be achieved due to the project through operational or organizational efficiencies created for the court or the state.
(5) Ways to minimize increased ongoing costs, including, but not limited to, trial court security and operating and maintenance costs.
(6) A comparison of the cost to repair or renovate the existing facility versus the cost of replacement.
(7) The projected cost of each proposed project, per court user.
(8) The total costs spent on the project as of the date of the assessment.
(Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 497, Sec. 149. (AB 991) Effective January 1, 2020.)