(a) On or before July 1, 2011, and periodically thereafter as appropriate, the Judicial Council shall enter into one or more master agreements with a vendor or vendors to provide for telephone appearances in civil cases under Section 367.5 of the Code of Civil Procedure or as otherwise authorized by law.

(b) Each master agreement shall include the following:

(1) The amount of the fees to be paid by a party for a telephone appearance.

(2) The amounts to be deposited in the Trial Court Trust Fund described in Section 72011.

(3) A requirement that the vendor submit a quarterly report setting forth the number of fees collected, number of liens established, and the amount collected from previously waived fees pursuant to Section 367.6 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

(4) A statement that the vendor shall indemnify and hold the court harmless from claims arising from a failure or interruption of services.

(5) Other terms as the Judicial Council deems appropriate, including, but not limited to, the services and equipment to be provided by vendors to the courts and the assistance to be provided by vendors to callers.

(c) A court may make telephone appearances available to a party only through one or more of the following methods:

(1) An agreement with one or more of the vendors under the master agreements provided by this section.

(2) An agreement entered into between a court and a vendor prior to July 1, 2011, and which has not expired. If a contract is subject to cancellation by a court after July 1, 2011, that court shall exercise its option to cancel the contract as soon after July 1, 2011, as is legally possible to do so.

(3) Direct provision by the court of telephone appearance services to a party. If the court provides the services directly, the court shall collect the fees for telephone appearances adopted by the Judicial Council in accordance with Section 367.6 of the Code of Civil Procedure and the master agreement or agreements entered into pursuant to this section. A judicial officer may, in his or her discretion, waive telephone appearance fees for parties appearing directly by telephone in that judicial officer’s courtroom.

(Added by Stats. 2010, Ch. 720, Sec. 23. (SB 857) Effective October 19, 2010.)