Workload Assessment Advisory Committee

The advisory committee—comprised of superior court judges, court executives, and advisory staff—reports directly to the Judicial Council. Members are appointed by the Chief Justice for three year terms.

Superior Court Judges

• Hon. Joyce D. Hinrichs, Chair, County of Humboldt
• Hon. Paul M. Marigonda, Vice Chair, County of Santa Cruz
• Hon. Charles R. Brehmer, County of Kern
• Hon. Pamela L. Butler, County of Monterey
• Hon. Lawrence P. Riff, County of Los Angeles
• Hon. Jennifer K. Rockwell, County of Sacramento

Superior Court Executive Officers:

• Ms. Kim Bartleson, County of Humboldt
• Ms. Stephanie Cameron, County of Tulare
• Ms. Sherri Carter, County of Los Angeles
• Mr. Jake Chatters, County of Placer
• Ms. Arlene D. Junior, County of Sonoma
• Mr. James Kim, County of Marin
• Ms. Kim Turner, County of Mendocino

2021 WAAC Membership

AB 1058 Funding Allocation Joint Subcommittee

• Hon. Mark Ashton Cope, Co-Chair, (TCBAC) Superior Court of California, County of Riverside
• Hon. Joyce D. Hinrichs, Co-Chair  (WAAC) Superior Court of California, County of Humboldt
• Hon. Mark A. Juhas, Co-Chair, (Family and Juvenile Law) Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles
• Hon. Sue Alexander, (Family and Juvenile Law) Superior Court of California, County of Alameda
• Hon. Lorna A. Alksne, (WAAC) Superior Court of California, County of San Diego
• Hon. Jonathan B. Conklin, (TCBAC) Superior Court of California, County of Fresno
• Ms. Rebecca Fleming, (TCBAC) Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara
• Mr. Mark Beckley, Chief Deputy Director, California Department of Child Support Services
• Hon. Patricia M. Lucas, (TCBAC) Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara
• Ms. Sheran L. Morton, (Family and Juvenile Law) Superior Court of California, County of Fresno
• Hon. B. Scott Thomsen, (Family and Juvenile Law) Superior Court of California, County of Nevada
• Ms. Catherine Hohenwarter, Family Law Facilitator Superior Court of California, County of Yolo

Background
The Judicial Council established the Judicial Branch Resource Needs Assessment Advisory Committee (JBRNAAC) as a standing Judicial Council advisory committee on December 13, 2013.

The JBRNAAC succeeded the Senate Bill (SB) 56 Working Group, previously established by the Administrative Director of the Courts in 2009.

In April 2014, the JBRNAAC was renamed the Workload Assessment Advisory Committee (WAAC).

Charge of Workload Assessment Advisory Committee

(a) Area of focus
The committee makes recommendations to the council on judicial administration standards and measures that provide for the equitable allocation of resources across courts to promote the fair and efficient administration of justice.

(b) Additional duties
In addition to the duties specified in rule 10.34, the committee must recommend:

1. Improvements to performance measures and implementation plans and any modifications to the Judicial Workload Assessment and the Resource Assessment Study Model;
2. Processes, study design, and methodologies that should be used to measure and report on court administration; and
3. Studies and analyses to update and amend case weights through time studies, focus groups, or other methods.

(c) Membership

1. The advisory committee consists of an equal number of superior court judicial officers and court executive officers reflecting diverse aspects of state trial courts, including urban, suburban, and rural locales; size and adequacy of resources; number of authorized judgeships; and for judicial officers, diversity of case type experience.
2. A judicial officer and court executive officer may be from the same court.

Rule 10.66 adopted effective January 1, 2015.