Report: California Judicial Branch Not Spending Wisely

Specifically, the report finds the salaries of more than 80 people who work at the Administrative Office of the Courts, or the AOC, are higher than those of the executive branch’s highest paid employees.

The report from the California State Auditor also finds the AOC provides its staff with certain benefits that exceed those in the executive branch.

The audit finds the AOC spent $13.5 million on contractors when it could have saved about $7 million by using state employees in comparable positions. And that that the AOC could consolidate its offices in San Francisco and Burbank into one office in Sacramento where the property lease rates are lower.

In response to the audit, Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye said the report “includes useful recommendations” and that many of them are already in the works.