Subject to the provisions of Section 70325 concerning a building subject to a bonded indebtedness, and Section 70329 concerning historic buildings, transfer of responsibility for court facilities shall be evidenced by the following change in title to the building containing those facilities:

(a) If the building is currently owned by the county and used solely for court functions, the building shall be transferred to the state which shall hold title to and use of the entire building. This subdivision may not apply to buildings that are deficient as provided in subdivision (b) of Section 70326. Unless bonded indebtedness, including the legal obligation to pay the indebtedness, is transferred to the state, this subdivision does not apply so long as a court facility is subject to bonded indebtedness. Title shall transfer to the state when the bonded indebtedness is paid. For the purposes of this subdivision, bonded indebtedness includes only the bonded indebtedness existing at the time of transfer of responsibility, and any refunding of the existing bonded indebtedness issued to achieve monetary savings to the county. Any refunding under this subdivision does not extend the original maturity date of the bonded indebtedness and may not increase the original principal amount of the indebtedness, except to pay costs relating to the refunding of the bonded indebtedness.

(b) If the building is currently owned by the county and used for court and other county functions, title to the building may be held in one of three ways, each of which shall be considered a transfer of responsibility for the court facilities for purposes of Section 70312:

(1) The county may continue to hold title to the building.

(2) The county may transfer title to the building to the state.

(3) The county may transfer title to the building to joint ownership between the county and the state.

(c) If the building is currently owned by a third party and leased by the county, any of the following apply:

(1) If the lessor consents to transfer of the lease to the state either without modification of the lease or on modification terms acceptable to the county and the Judicial Council, the county shall transfer its rights and responsibilities under the lease to the state. The court shall then occupy the building under the terms of the lease.

(2) If the lessor does not consent to the transfer of the lease to the state or the lessor’s new terms for transfer of the lease to the state are unacceptable to either the county or the Judicial Council, the county shall continue to provide facilities to the court under the terms of the lease and the amount of the lease payments shall be excluded from the county facilities payment provided by Section 70359. Upon expiration of the lease, the amount of the lease payments shall then be included in the county facilities payment in the same manner provided by Section 70359, as if the lease were transferred to the state.

(3) If the lessor does not consent to the transfer of the lease to the state or the lessor’s new terms for transfer of the lease to the state are unacceptable to either the county or the Judicial Council, the county and the Judicial Council may agree that the provisions of paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) shall not apply, the court shall find alternative facilities, and the amount of the lease payments due under the lease shall be included in the county facilities payment as provided by Section 70359. The agreement under this subdivision may include an agreement for a different lease payment amount to be included in the county facilities payment.

(Added by Stats. 2002, Ch. 1082, Sec. 4. Effective January 1, 2003.)