Title BPC — California Bus. & Prof. Code

The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following: (a) The resolution of many disputes can be unnecessarily costly, time-consuming, and complex when achieved through formal court proceedings where the parties are adversaries and are subjected to formalized procedures…

It is the intent of the Legislature to permit counties to accomplish all of the following: (a) Encouragement and support of the development and use of alternative dispute resolution techniques. (b) Encouragement and support of community participation in the development, administr…

As used in this chapter: (a) “Dispute resolution” includes, but is not limited to, mediation, conciliation, and arbitration. (b) “Program” means an entity that provides dispute resolution. (c) “Advisory Council” means the Dispute Resolution Advisory Council.

(a) There is in the Division of Consumer Services of the Department of Consumer Affairs a Dispute Resolution Advisory Council. The advisory council shall complete the duties required by this chapter no later than January 1, 1989. (b) The advisory council shall consist of seven pe…

(a) A program funded pursuant to this chapter shall be operated pursuant to contract with the county and shall comply with all of the requirements of this chapter and the rules and regulations of the advisory council. (b) Counties may establish a program of grants to public entit…

A program shall not be eligible for funding under this chapter unless it meets all of the following requirements: (a) Compliance with this chapter and the applicable rules and regulations of the advisory council. (b) Provision of neutral persons adequately trained in conflict res…

Programs funded pursuant to this chapter shall provide persons indicating an intention to utilize the dispute resolution process with a written statement prior to the dispute resolution proceeding, in language easy to read and understand, stating all of the following: (a) The nat…

(a) An agreement resolving a dispute entered into with the assistance of a program shall not be enforceable in a court nor shall it be admissible as evidence in any judicial or administrative proceeding, unless the consent of the parties or the agreement includes a provision that…

Notwithstanding the express application of Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 1115) of Division 9 of the Evidence Code to mediations, all proceedings conducted by a program funded pursuant to this chapter, including, but not limited to, arbitrations and conciliations, are subject…

Each program shall maintain those statistical records required by Section 471.5, and as may be required by the county. The records shall maintain the confidentiality and anonymity of the parties.

(a) Unless the parties have agreed to a binding award, nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prohibit any person who voluntarily enters the dispute resolution process from revoking his or her consent, withdrawing from dispute resolution, and seeking judicial or administra…

All funds available to a county for the purposes of this chapter shall be utilized for projects proposed by eligible programs.

Programs shall be selected for funding by a county from the applications submitted therefor.

Applications submitted for funding shall include, but need not be limited to, all of the following information: (a) Evidence of compliance with Sections 467.2, 467.3, and 467.4. (b) A description of the proposed community area of service, cost of the principal components of opera…

Data supplied by each applicant shall be used to assign relative funding priority on the basis of criteria developed by the advisory council. The criteria may include, but shall not be limited to, all of the following, in addition to the criteria set forth in Section 468.2: (a) U…

Upon the approval of the county, funds available for the purposes of this chapter shall be used for the costs of operation of approved programs. Not more than 10 percent of funds available for the purposes of this chapter shall be used to finance the administration of the program…

A county may accept and disburse funds from any public or private source for the purposes of this chapter.

(a) A grant recipient may accept funds from any public or private source for the purposes of this chapter. (b) A county and its representatives may inspect, examine, and audit the fiscal affairs of the programs and the projects funded under this chapter. (c) Programs shall, whene…

A county’s share of the funding pursuant to this chapter shall not exceed 50 percent of the approved estimated cost of the program.

(a) On and after January 1, 2006, as described in Section 68085.1 of the Government Code, the Administrative Office of the Courts shall make monthly distributions from superior court filing fees for the support of dispute resolution programs under this chapter in each county that…

A county may carry over moneys received from distributions under Section 470.5 and from the fees for the support of dispute resolution programs authorized by this chapter that were added to fees for filing a first paper in a civil action in superior court under the laws in effect…

(a) The advisory council shall adopt rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of this chapter, including, but not limited to, guidelines to be used by the programs for the recruitment and training of persons conducting dispute resolution, and provisions for periodic monit…

The rules and regulations adopted by the advisory council pursuant to Section 471 shall be formulated to promote statewide uniformity with the guidelines contained in those rules and regulations.

Each program funded pursuant to this chapter shall annually provide the county with statistical data regarding its operating budget; the number of referrals, categories, or types of cases referred to the program; the number of persons served by the program; the number of disputes…