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At least 31 California counties home to 80 percent of the state's residents have kept COVID-19 emergency bail schedules to help curb the spread of the virus in jails and surrounding communities during the pandemic, according to data from superior courts.

Since April, the state Supreme Court rolled a large screen television into its San Francisco courtroom to conduct oral arguments.

Starting Monday, March 2, North County residents will no longer be required to drive to downtown San Diego to file their probate matters.

To prepare for potential emergencies, the Orange County court collaborated with Cal State Fullerton to practice using the campus’s emergency operations center as a makeshift courtroom.

Governor Gavin Newsom signed his first state budget on Thursday, which includes nearly $470 million in new judicial branch funding to continue the courts’ steady recovery after years of deep cuts.

​“The Judicial Council of California and its chair, Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, are committed to providing equal access and fairness in our justice system,” said Judge Marla O. Anderson.

Since the COVID-19 state of emergency issued in mid-March, courts around the state have been holding more court hearings remotely. Now courts are looking for ways to expand remote technology to support community engagement. 

Hundreds of new laws went into effect Jan. 1, including many that will protect the public and improve access to justice for all Californians.

The Judicial Council voted to end two temporary emergency rules governing evictions and judicial foreclosures, to stay in effect through midnight Sept. 1.

"We in the judicial branch will do our best to serve the public in these unprecedented times of a global pandemic and recession," Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye said.

The Judicial Council voted to end the COVID-19 emergency bail schedule, as California begins a phased re-opening and courts restore services shuttered due to the COVID-19 pandemic.