About Us
The California Court Commissioners Association (“CCCA”) was established in 1982 for the “purpose of supporting and promoting the fair and efficient administration of justice and the interest of its members in attaining these goals.”
The first elected officers were John Harris as president and Bob Axel as vice-president, both of whom were court commissioners from Los Angeles County Municipal Courts. The original founding members adopted a constitution and by-laws. CCCA membership includes all subordinate judicial officers (SJO) appointed throughout California’s 58 county courts.
CCCA has divided California into four Districts. It is from these districts that 15 SJOs are elected to serve on the Board of Directors. The phrase subordinate judicial officer includes court commissioners, juvenile and traffic referees and family support commissioners all of whom are appointed as judicial bench officers to hear a variety of cases throughout California’s courts of original jurisdiction.
A CCCA member sits on the Board of Directors of the California Judges Association as the CCCA representative. The Chief Justice of California appoints a court commissioner to sit on the California Judicial Council for a term of three years as a non-voting member.
Since its inception, CCCA members have sat on various statewide committees for improving the laws of California, advancing benefits for SJOs as well as conducting education programs and seminars for judges and subordinate judicial officers.
The number of SJOs throughout California has increased from 119 in 1982 to more than 400 in 2009. CCCA is the only statewide organization that was established for the benefit of all subordinate judicial officers throughout California.
