HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 03012005 - C.76 Contra
T : BOARD OF SUPERVISORS *,.-+ �� •.,,
FROM: JOHN SWEETEN, County AdministratorCosta
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DATE: MARCH 1 2005 •• s = • ��
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SUBJECT: 2004 ANNUAL REPORT FROM BOARD ADVISORY BODY •
SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
RECOMMENDATION:
RECEIVE 2004 Annual Report submitted by the Public Law Library Board of Trustees.
BACKGROUND:
On June 18, 2002, the Board of Supervisors adopted Resolution No. 2002/377, which requires
that each regular and ongoing board, commission, or committee shall annually report to the
Board of Supervisors on its activities, accomplishments, membership attendance, required
training/certification (if any), and proposed work plan or objectives for the following year, on the
second Tuesday in December.
Annual reports shall follow the following format and shall not exceed two typewritten
pages:
Advisory Body Name:
Advisory Body Meeting Time/Location:
Chair (during the reporting period):
Staffperson (during the reporting period):
Reporting Period:
1. Activities (1/2 page)
11. Accomplishments (1/2 page)
111. Attend ance/Rep resentation (1/4 page)
IV. Training/Certification (1/4 page)
V. Pro osed Work Plan/Ob•ectives for Next Year (1/2 page)
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CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: ,YES SIGNATURE: r, ...,..-...
RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR ❑ RECOMMENDATI N OF BOAR COMMITTEE
``APPROVE ❑ OTHER
SIGNATURE (S): .' 1, ..... .~.'-��.......�.. ..-...._...._--
ACTION OF BOARD ON f
APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED 79 OTHER ❑
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS: I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE AND
CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AND
UNANIMOUS(ABSENT 0 ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF
AYES: NOES:
SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN.
ABSENT: ABSTAIN: ATTESTED: MARCH 1,2005
Contact: JANE PENNINGTON(925)335-1900 JOHN SWEETEN,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF
SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
cc: CHIEF CLERK OF THE BOARD OF SUPVS
ALICE McKENZIE, LAW LIBRARY
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Annual Report of the Board of Law Library Trustees
County of Contra Costa, State of California
Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 2004
TO THE HONORABLE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
COUNTY OF CONTRA COSTA, STATE OF CALIFORNIA
Pursuant to§6349 and §6350 of the California Business and Professional Cie and GASB 34 the
Board of the Public Law Library Trustees respectfully submits to your Honorable Board its annual
report of the condition of its trust for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2004.
Board of Trustees
The Board of Law Library Trustees was composed of the following members on June 30, 2004:
Honorable Joyce Cram (President) Judge, Superior Court
Honorable Steven Austin (Vice President) Judge, Superior Court
Honorable Harlan Grossman (Secretary) Judge, Superior Court
Honorable Barry P. Goode Judge, Superior Court
Honorable Jill Fannin Judge, Superior Court
David Del Simone Attorney
Mark Armstrong Attorney
The Honorable Barry Baskin resigned late December and was replaced by the Honorable Jill
Fannin on January 1, 2003. The Chair of the Board of Supervisors, Mark DeSaulnier, appointed
Mark Armstrong, Esq. to replace Craig Anderson in his role as the ex officio trustee for the Chair
of the Board of Supervisors. In February 2004, the Honorable Bruce Mills resigned and the
Honorable Barry P. Goode was appointed to his position by the Presiding Judge. David Del
Simone was reappointed by way of a recommendation from the Law Library Board of Trustee's
Selection Committee to the County's Internal Operations Committee.
The Contra Costa County Bar Association (CCCBA) is represented by Scott Reep, Esq. and
Patrick Meehan, Esq. Bill Reed, Esq. resigned in the fall after representing the CCCBA since
January 2001.
The Law Library Director,Alice McKenzie, served as Recording Secretary of the Board of Public
Law Library Trustees.
staff
No staffing changes took place over the year.
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Law Library Staff
Alice McKenzie
Dir.,Law Library
Naomi Little Carol Thompson Robin Moore Judy Gooch Theresa Ritts
Admin.Assistant Lib.Assistant Lib. Assistant Lib. Assistant Loose-leaf Filer
(RefXat.) (webilrech.Ser.) (Richmond) (Contract PM
Condition of Trust
Revenue
During the 2003/2004 fiscal year, the law library spent$640,003 while receiving $664,431 in total
revenue. This year the law library's expenditures were well below the budgeted $708.027. The
reduction in expenditures was necessitated by the lack of increased revenue even with a $3.00
court filing fee increase that was set in place January 2004. The 2003/2004 Law Library's filing
fee revenue was $44,654 below our forecasting due to a decline of civil court filings this past
year.
Contra Cost County Number of Court Filings
1997 -2004
32,000
30,000
289000
No. of Filings 26,000
241000
221000
0) C N
T_ Mo
O o
N N
Based on the 2003 recommendation of our C.P.A., Arlene Mose and a vote by the Board of
Trustees, the Law Library maintains a six-month reserve for the law library's operations. This
reserve is a non-dedicated, liquid-cash reserve of approximately 50 percent of one year's budget
that can not be drawn from without prior Board approval. All other unbudgeted revenue will be
set aside in the capital improvement fund for library improvements, i.e. library management
software, refurbishing, etc.
The library has utilized a number of belt-tightening measures to maintain its reserve. The first
measure has been setting a conservative limit on staff merit, COLA increases, and benefit
expenditures over the years. Secondly, no new library staff additions or law library locations
have been added. Additional core cost-reduction measures have been implemented such as
refraining from any major spending on the law collection, technology, or to refurbish the facilities.
The law library's expenditures were well below our 2002-2003 expenditure amounts by$27,034,
so our cost cutting efforts have been effective.
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These measures have weakened the effectiveness of the Law Library within the County. To
continue and expand its role in meeting the needs of the Contra Costa County community the
law library pursued and achieved a dual-year court filing fee increase that was approved by the
Board of Supervisors late 2003. The first$3.00 court filing fee increase went into effect on
January 1, 2004 with second one taking place January 1, 2005. The 2004, $26.00 court filing
fee, increase went into effect on January 8th along with the Court's other annual increases.
In addition to filing fees,the law library trust is augmented with interest earnings and miscellaneous
revenue received through our photocopy service,fax receipts/transmissions,document delivery,and
selling of used books. There has been a sharp decline in our interest income over the last two
years. The graph below illustrates the library's dependency on the court filing fee revenue.
Total Revenue 1997 -2004
$700,000
$650,000
$600,000 0 Interest
$550,000
$500,000 ■ Misc
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■ Filing Fees
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Expenses
Consistent with other years, the main expenses of the library have been the maintenance of the
collection and personnel costs. Most of the operational expenditures have been for the
resources used to support the collection, e.g. theft protection, signage, terminals, etc. The
upkeep and subscription costs to merely maintain the existing Contra Costa County Public Law
Library collection have escalated substantially due to publisher mergers and the specialization of
the materials. A chart taken from American Association of Law Libraries (AALL)'s Price Index
for Legal Publications 2d1, demonstrates the increase of legal supplementation from 1998—
2003. 2003 depicts a lower maintenance costs for serials than the library had experienced in the
past. Serials consist of over 85% of the collection.
Serials (excluding periodicals) (located at http://www.aalInet.org/members/price index.asp)
Serials consist of Court Reporters, Citators, Codes, Legal Encyclopedias, Newsletters,
Loose-leaf Services, and Supplemented Legal Treatises. This AALL chart is based on
528 titles from various publishers.
1 American Association of Law Libraries (2004). Price Index for Legal Publications, 2d. Retrieved August 3,
20049 from http://www.aallnet.ore//members/price index.asp [members-only section].
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Average Percentage
Titles Total Price Price Index
price Change
'1998 528 $3131696.46 $594.12 100.00
1999 528 $3471488.10 $658.12 10.77% 110.77
f
2000 528 $3671391.25 $695.82 5.73% 117.12
I
2001 528 $4277038.29 $808.78 16.23% 136.13
f
2002 528 $470,584.35 $891.26 10.20% 150.01
2003 528 $4797648.25 $908.42 1.93% 152.90
Like other entities, the library has also experienced a sharp increase in the worker
compensation insurance, health insurance, property insurance, and liability insurance areas. A
breakdown of the Law Library's expenditures is presented below. A copy of Revenue and
Expenditure Report: 7/1/03-6/30/04 is provided as Appendix A.
Public Law Library Expenses: 2003-2004
Insurance
1%
Equipment Personnel ■Personnel
39% ■Operations
o Collection
Collectio
o Equipment
52%
Operations
4% ■Insurance
Property Added this Fiscal Year
Martinez
Quantity Property
3 Dell Computers for public access
(replaced older computers."
1 Wireless Printer
1 Wireless Access Point
3 Monitors(with the Dell Computer....
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Richmond
Quantity Pro erty
1 Fax/Printer(replaces old fax machine&
Tinter
C011@CtlOtl
Books (This is an approximate number and includes all reporters as well as treatises)
58,170 volumes in collection as of 6/30/04
495 volumes withdrawn
949 volumes added
New Books (New titles, also includes new editions of former titles)
347 volumes (part of the 949 volumes shown above)
Online(Internet) Services
Lexis
Shepards
Westlaw
Fastcase (new addition in 2004)
HeinOnline (new addition in 2004)
LLMC (new addition in 2003)
LegalTrac (Online Index of Substantive Legal Periodicals)
Court Forms (used with Adobe Acrobat or Word Processing software)
Treatises (some of these titles had formerly been available in CD-ROM format)
Online access usage for Lexis and Westlaw surged towards the end of the 2003/2004
fiscal year. A large number of treatises, that are also available online, were cancelled
over the year so the library's dependency on online resources will continue to increase.
Online Usage -2003/2004
so
� 40 ---- ----- -- —+—LESS hours
20 �Westlaw hours
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Public Access Terminals(lnternet Accessi
Four(4)terminals available for the public for research—Martinez
One (1) additional terminal provides access to the public library catalog -Martinez
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One (1) terminal available for the public- Richmond
Microfiche (No new fiche has been added the past three years. The Law Library now
subscribes to LLCM which is in the process of converting their fiche into an online digital
format.)
125,012 fiche cards in the collection
CD-ROM(most titles accompany books and contain forms)
109 titles
The titles in the library's collection increased slightly this year and we have been able to keep it
current through our online subscriptions. The library does not circulate the books in the collection
and with the use of our security detection gate,there have only been a few instances of damage or
theft of the law books.
Over the recent years,the Board of Trustees has carefully examined the collection and a number of
esoteric titles have been eliminated. There has been a diligent effort to build up the California law
collection and ensure its currency. The primary goal of the law library is to maintain the titles most
commonly used by the patrons. When available, Internet sources supplement our in-print resources
in the library. This online solution will continue to be an issue with some patrons due to the
computer information gap primarily caused by age, income, and educational level. The library staff
continually requires training so that they can assist the public with internet sources and other
applications.
Three years ago the Judicial Council reported in their annual report that 4.3 million litigants in the
State of California were pro per(self-represented). The law library has been working with the
Contra Costa Courts and the Contra Costa County Bar Association to support their efforts in
educating and supporting the public who have chosen to represent themselves. Pro per
materials have been added to the law library's collection, as well as the addition of personal
informational training sessions on how to use the Internet to locate some of the online sources,
e.g. forms, self-help centers, etc.
Significant Developments
❖ Operations
• Strategic Plan
This fiscal year the Board of Trustees accomplished a number of the Law Library's 2003—
2005 Strategic Plan's goals. The plan provides the library with a vision and strategies for its
future.
• Upgraded Technology
Two of the public access computers in Martinez were replaced to provide Internet access.
The computer hosting the library's catalog was replaced as well. Wireless technology was
added to the Martinez location so that users could use their own notebook computers to
access and print from the Internet.
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• Online Library Catalog &Web Presence
Patrons can review the collection online for both of our locations. The online catalog also
allows linkage to web sites, table of contents, and e-books.
The library's web page is updated regularly and provides our users with a convenient list of
selective Websites, access to AskNow (virtual legal assistance on the Internet), our new
books list, our monthly agenda, and minutes. The number of visits took a dip in the second
quarter of the year and now we are seeing a steady increase of users.
Fwww.cccpllib.org
2003/2004 Usage Report
31000 -
27000 - Number of
11000 Visits
0
00 00 00 �` �` o°`
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❖ Public Access
• Richmond Library
The Richmond Library is finding a solid user base this year. Our user numbers took a dip
mid-year but since then they have continued to climb A Public Access terminal with
access to the Internet and legal databases is now available and is heavily used. The cart
below demonstrates that the Richmond Law Library averages around 292 users a month.
2003/2004 Richmond Library Users
600 -
400 - --♦—Richmond Library
200 Users
0 -
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ASK
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• AskNow P Online Access
AskNow provides "real time" online access to a law librarian via the Internet. Our library
has volunteered 4 hours a week of our reference time to this state-wide effort of
providing legal virtual reference. This service has been a major success, with over
20,000 questions asked since it was launched in 2002, and is accessible through a
number of major legal sites, i.e. State Court's self-help web site, www.courtinfo.ca.gov,
www.LawHelpCalifornia.org, and www.publiclawlibra[y.o[g/
• Electronic resource use
The demand for desktop delivery of materials is increasing and to meet that need the
library had to restrict online access time on the public access terminals to Y2 hour. There
is a continual demand in the library for additional terminals and Internet access for
notebooks. This year we added wireless access to the Internet and our printer.
2003/2004 LEXIS and Westlaw Usage
120 -
100 - LEXIS hours
12 80
60
0
—�—Westlaw hours
= 40 --
20 Total usage
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• Online Training
On a regular basis we assist our users individually on how to use the legal databases
and the court's web sites for research and forms access.
Future Plans
During the 2004/05 fiscal year, the Law Library's Board of Trustees will continue to monitor
revenue trends and limit expenditures. The Board has established a Strategic Planning
Committee that will continue to conduct needs assessment so that the Law Library can be
assured that it continues to meet the needs of the community. Strong efforts have already been
put into place to increase the library's service level and to market these services. The vision of
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Appendix A
Contra Costa County Public Law Library
REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE REPORT:
M/03 -6130104
Summary
Beginning Fund Balance(7/1/03) $3891273
Revenue $664,431
Expenditures ($640,003)
FUND BALANCE(6130104)* $413,701
Revenue Detail
Court Filing Fees $6401908
Revenues from fax,copies,bk sales $19,811
Rev.from pooled earnings $3,712
FUND TOTAL(REVENUES) $664,431
Expenditure Detail
Personnel
Permanent Salaries $197,383
Temporary Salaries $1,376
Permanent Overtime $512
FICA $1,866
Retirement Expense $13,817
Employee Group Insurance $267934
Unemployment Insurance $531
Workers Comp Insurance $6,676
Subtotal $2499096
Operations
Office Expense $6,034
Postage $498
Communications $21367
Telephone $49025
Computer Equipment $3,192
Food $26
Memberships $19237
Rents&Leases-Equip $7,606
Computer Software $13,599
Maintenance-Equipment $3,430
Transportation&Travel $376
Professional/Speclzd Svc $4,907
Data Processing Service $1,591
Electronic Database Svcx $17,741
Insurance $9,274
Adult Materials-Library $3141431
Training $573
Subtotal $3909908
FUND TOTAL(EXPENDITURES) $640200 .
Note:In 2003/2004 the Law Library maintained a six-month reserve fund of
$354,013,per a 2003 resolution of the Law Library Board of Trustees.
*Based on 81&V4 200312004 Closing Report Printed 8118/2004
Annual Report of the Board of Law Library Trustees
County of Contra Costa, State of California
Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 2004
TO THE HONORABLE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
COUNTY OF CONTRA COSTA, STATE OF CALIFORNIA
The undersigned, Recording Secretary of the Board of Law Library Trustees, County of Contra
Costa, State of California, respectfully submits this report of the finances of the said trust and other
information as might be of interest,for the fiscal year ending June 30,2004, based upon information
provided her by the Auditor-Controller of said County and Arlene K. Mose, CPA hired by the Board
of Trustees of the Law Library, all information she believes to be true.
41
Signed GC��G�C..' C
114, '4 -" -
Alice McKenzie
Law Library Director/Recolfding
Secretary of the Board of Trustees
for the Public Law Library for the
County of Contra Costa
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
COUNTY OF CONTRA COSTA
Alice McKenzie, being first duly sworn, deposes and says: That she is Recording Secretary of
the Board of the Public Law Library Trustees, County of Contra Costa, State of California, that
she has read the attached report and knows the contents thereof, and that she believes it to be
true.
Signed � rt
Subscribed and sworn to before me this ,�f � day of
2004. '
Signed
Title -lv V -F
Annual Report of the Board of Law Library Trustees
County of Contra Costa, State of California
Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 2004
TO KENNETH J. CORCORAN, AUDITOR-CONTROLLER
COUNTY OF CONTRA COSTA, STATE OF CALIFORNIA
Pursuant to§6349 and §6350 of the California Business and Professional Code, the Board of the
Public Law Library Trustees respectfully submits to the auditor of the county its annual report of the
condition of its trust, with full statements of all property and money received, the number of books,
periodicals and other publications on hand, the number added by purchase, gift, or otherwise, and
other information as might be of interest for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2004
14
Respectfully submitted this day of04.
L
G.
T
Alice McKenzie
Law Library Director/Recording Secretary
To the Board of the Public Law Library Trustees
County of Contra Costa, State of California
Annual Report of the Board of Law Library Trustees
County of Contra Costa, State of California
Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 2004
TO THE HONORABLE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
COUNTY OF CONTRA COSTA, STATE OF CALIFORNIA
Pursuant to§6349 and§6350 of the California Business and Professional Code,the Board of Law
Library Trustees respectfully submits to the Honorable Board its annual report of the condition of its
trust,with full statements of all property and money received,the number of books,periodicals and
other publications on hand,the number added by purchase,gift,or otherwise,and other information
as might be of interest for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2004.
Respectfully submitted this�. ay of Ir, 2004.
01
..........
Judge Joyce C m, President
Public Law r Board of Trustees
County of Contra Costa, State of California