The California State Auditor released a report on Dec. 10 regarding the status of procurement in the judicial branch. The report states: “Although the Judicial Council needs to strengthen controls over its information systems, its procurement practices generally comply with applicable requirements.”
According to the release, in 2011, the state enacted the California Judicial Branch Contract Law, which requires judicial branch entities “to follow procurement and contracting policies that are consistent with the California Public Contract Code and substantially similar to other state requirements.”
The auditor’s report further went on to state that in the past two years since the last report was done, the judicial council has continued to have “fundamental weaknesses in controls over its information systems.” It was determined that the council has adopted a framework for the controls but “has not fully implemented the controls needed to address the weaknesses and did not provide a projected date for full implementation.”
In response to a previous recommendation by the state auditor, the Judicial Council will be making its semi-annual procurement reports available in a sortable electronic format.
The Judicial Council recently requested additional funding for information system control enhancements, but that has not yet been approved, and the auditor said in the report it's unclear whether or not other resources could be used. The report said judicial information systems contain confidential and sensitive information, and the continued and pervasive implementation of the weakened system exposes the information to security risks and compromises its availability.
The California State Auditor has recommended the Judicial Council update its existing contracting manual to include such standards as fuel economy considerations in vehicle purchases and that the council develop a corrective action plan before February 2016 to fully implement the information system control by summer of the same year. “Further,” they added, “the Judicial Council should continue to provide guidance and routinely follow up with the superior courts to assist in their efforts to make the necessary improvements to their information system controls.”
