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Superior Court v. County of Alameda (CA6 H048342 6/17/21) Court Security MOU 

By June 17, 2021June 26th, 2021Uncategorized

Plaintiff Alameda County Superior Court (ACSC) challenges the trial court’s determination that a three-year memorandum of understanding (MOU) between ACSC and defendants County of Alameda (the County) and Alameda County Sheriff’s Office (the Sheriff) governing court security services does not obligate the Sheriff to provide a minimum level of court security services of 129 “FTEs” (full time equivalents) after the expiration of the MOU.  The trial court ruled that the MOU entitled the County and the Sheriff to unilaterally reduce court security services provided by the Sheriff to ACSC below 129 FTEs if funding provided to the County by the State of California (the State) for court security services was not sufficient to pay for 129 FTEs.

The trial court’s decision turned on its conclusion that exhibit C-3 of the MOU permitted the Sheriff to reduce court security services provided during the last six months of the three-year period covered by the MOU and that exhibit C-3 was the “deployment schedule” that remained in force under the MOU after the MOU’s expiration until the parties agreed on a new MOU.  ACSC argued in the trial court that exhibit C-1, the deployment schedule that governed the level of court security during the first two years of the period covered by the MOU and which required a minimum of 129 FTEs, was the only deployment schedule in the MOU, and therefore it was exhibit C-1 that remained in force after the expiration of the MOU.

On appeal, ACSC reiterates the argument it made in the trial court.  We conclude that exhibit C-1’s provisions concerning the level of court security services remained in force after the expiration of the MOU because exhibit C-1 is the only portion of the MOU that meets the requirement of Government Code section 69926 that a court security MOU specify an “agreed-upon level” of court security services.  We find that exhibit C-3 did not satisfy that requirement.  Consequently, we reverse the trial court’s decision and remand for further proceedings.

https://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/H048342.PDF