There are four vacancies on the 28-judge court, the most recent one occurring when Judge Procter Hug Jr. took senior status Jan. 1.

Judge James Browning took senior status Sept. 1 of last year. Previous vacancies resulted when Judge Cynthia Holcomb Hall took senior status Aug. 31, 1997 and when the late Judge Charles E. Wiggins took senior status Dec. 31, 1996.

President Bush resubmitted the nominations of Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl and Hawaii attorney and Republican activist Richard R. Clifton on Sept. 4.

Kuhl and Clifton were originally nominated June 22. The nominations were returned to the president on Aug. 3 when a disagreement over other nominees resulted in the Senate returning all pending nominations.

Senate rules require that all pending nominations be returned to the president when the Senate goes into recess absent unanimous consent.

Kuhl, 48, is a six-year veteran of the Superior Court bench. She previously served in the U.S. Department of Justice as a special assistant to Attorney General William French Smith, and worked in the office of the solicitor general during the Reagan administration.

Kuhl has not received a confirmation hearing, reportedly because Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer will not sign a "blue slip." Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., has declined to schedule confirmation hearings for judicial nominees without the approval of both senators from a nominee's home state.

President Clinton's nominees for the Hall and Wiggins seats, attorneys Joseph Duffy Jr. of Honolulu and Barry Goode of San Francisco, never received confirmation hearings. Goode now serves as legal affairs secretary to Gov. Gray Davis.

Los Angeles attorneys John Walter and Percy Anderson were nominated last month by President Bush to fill two of the six vacancies on the court.

There are no vacancies.

There is one vacancy in newly created Div. Eight. Among those who have been evaluated by the Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation and could be appointed to that post are Los Angeles Superior Court Judges Gregory Alarcon, Laurie Zelon and Madeline Flier and Ventura Superior Court Judge Melinda Johnson.

Fourth District

Richard Fybel was elevated from the Orange Superior Court and sworn in Feb. 8 as a justice of Div. Three.

Divs. One and Div. Two each have a vacancy created by SB 1857. Div. Three has another vacancy created by the June 1 retirement of Justice Thomas Crosby.

Fifth District

There is one vacancy, a newly created position under SB 1857.

Sixth District

Presiding Justice Christopher Cottle retired Aug. 31. Justice Patricia Bamattre-Manoukian is the acting presiding justice.

Seats in other districts are filled.

Judge Jerold Krieger died Feb. 15, bringing the number of vacancies to 19.

Judges Michael Pirosh and John Gunn retired this month. Judges David Finkel, James Albracht, and Elvira Austin retired last month.

Eight judges retired last year and have not been replaced: Richard Kalustian May 8, Arnold Gold May 21, Kenneth Chotiner May 31, Kurt J. Lewin Aug. 16, Elva Soper Sept. 30, David Perez Oct. 5, Richard Charvat Nov. 5, and James Simpson-retired for disability-Dec. 10.

Three judges were elevated last year to the Court of Appeal-Laurence Rubin on Oct. 22, Paul Boland on Nov. 21, and Judith Ashmann on Dec. 7.

Vacancies also resulted from the deaths of Judge Stephen O'Neill July 10 and Judge Ronald Cappai July 17 and the removal of Judge Patrrick Couwenberg Aug. 15.

Judge David B. Finkel has postponed his retirement from Jan. 27 to Feb. 6. Judge James Albracht was due to retire this past Sunday, but has been on vacation and has not returned his retirement papers, an official said.

Robert Kawahara was elected a court commissioner this month. Runoff voting is scheduled to end today to fill another commissioner vacancy-the candidates are Los Angeles attorney Melissa Widdifield and Deputy District Attorney Diana Summerhayes, and results are expected tomorrow.

Commissioner Manly Caloff retired Feb. 20.

Commissioner Michael Price has scheduled retirement for March 11. Commissioner Louis Head is next Tuesday and Commissioner Linda Elliot March 31.

The following pieces of legislation were acted upon in February:

•AB 1702, by Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, which require the Judicial Council to establish the Family Court Improvement Pilot Project, which, beginning July 1, 2003, would authorize up to four courts to implement new procedures and strategies for their family courts. The bill died because it did not clear its house of origin in time to meet a deadline in the state constitution.

•AB 1970, by Assemblywoman Barbara Matthews, D-Stockton, which would exempt parole officers, probation officers and prison guards from jury duty. The bill was introduced Feb. 14.

•AB 1981, by Assemblyman Joseph Simitian, D-Palo Alto, which would make numerous changes to discovery rules in a court action pertaining to a defective product or environmental hazard. The bill would allow the court to send protected information to a governmental agency responsible for regulating or monitoring the subject matter contained in the protected information. The bill was introduced Feb. 14.

•AB 2033, by Assemblyman Robert Pacheco, R-City of Industry, which would expand the law allowing nonerasable optical image reproduction of a writing to be introduced in court as proof of a writing, in circumstances in which a document cannot be demonstrated by other means. The bill was introduced Feb. 15.

•AB 2055, by Assemblyman Robert Pacheco, R-City of Industry, which would eliminate the "work product" protection in existing law if the services of a lawyer were sought or obtained to enable or aid anyone to commit or plan to commit a crime or fraud. The bill was introduced Feb. 19.

•AB 2104, by Assemblyman Rod Pacheco, R-City of Industry, which would provide that there is no statute of limitations for prosecution for specified acts of terrorism. The bill was introduced Feb. 19.

•AB 2106, by Assemblyman Russ Bogh, R-Yucaipa, which would provide that when multiple criminal offenses occur in more than one jurisdictional territory, and the offenses are part of a single scheme or terrorist attack, the jurisdiction of any of those offenses is in any jurisdiction where at least one of those offenses occurred. The bill was introduced Feb. 19.

•AB 2211, by Assemblyman Jerome Horton, D-Inglewood, which would provide a procedure for a "representative of the community affected by the crime" to make an impact statement at a criminal sentencing hearing. The bill was introduced Feb. 20.

•AB 2238, by Assemblyman Richard Dickerson, R-Redding, which prohibit any person from knowingly posting personal information about a judge or other public official-or the official's spouse or child-on the Internet knowing that person is an elected or appointed official and intending or threatening imminent physical harm to that individual. The bill also would allow public safety officials to use a business address or telephone number in lieu of a home address for specified public records, and would prohibit specified people and entities from disclosing the home address and telephone number of public safety officials, or possessing that information. The bill was introduced Feb. 20.

•AB 2263, by Assemblywoman Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego, which would require the Judicial Council to study the effectiveness of expanding the Kids' Turn program, which assists children while their parents are in family court obtaining a divorce or legal separation. The bill was introduced Feb. 20.

•AB 2470, by Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, which would allow hearsay evidence of a statement made by a minor under 12 years old who is the subject or victim in certain types of cases. The bill was introduced Feb. 21.

•AB 2483, by Assemblyman Manny Diaz, D-San Jose, which would establish an experimental program in four counties under which immigrants who commit traffic violations would have the option of taking a "How to Live in America" class in lieu of fines or jail time. The bill was introduced Feb. 21.

•AB 2690, by Assemblyman Dennis Cardoza, D-Turlock, which would require each superior court to provide the state's legislative analyst with annual financial statements. The bill was introduced Feb. 22.

•ACR 142, by Assemblyman Robert Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, which would officially name the interchange where State Highway 105 connects with Highway 110 as the "Judge Harry Pregerson Interchange" in honor of the oldest active judge on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The resolution was adopted by the Assembly on Feb. 4 and was sent to the Senate Transportation Committee.

•SB 1371, by Sen. Bill Morrow, R-Carlsbad, which would require that a court reporter provide a transcript to a nonparty if he or she is entitled to receive the transcript, whether or not the nonparty was entitled to attend the proceeding. The bill was introduced Feb. 79.

•SB 1396, by Sen. Joseph Dunn, D-Garden Grove, would declare the intent of the Legislature that the judicial branch be provided with a level of security that allows its users and employees to function in a safe and secure environment. The bill was introduced Feb. 13.

•SB 1406, by Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Los Angeles, which would require the notice of mediation in a child-custody case to state that all proceedings involving the mediator and the disputing parties shall be kept confidential between the mediator and the disputing parties and that the mediator shall not make a recommendation except to the disputing parties. The bill also would prohibit a mediator from making any recommendation to the court if the parties have not reached agreement as a result of the mediation proceedings. The bill was introduced Feb. 13.

•SB 1459, by Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Monterey Park, which would make a person who is not an active member of the State Bar, or not otherwise authorized to practice law in the state, guilty of a misdemeanor or a felony if he or she willfully and intentionally, with intent to defraud, either (1) commits specified actions indicating that he or she is an attorney or entitled to practice law, or (2) borrows, uses, purchases, or appropriates the name, license number, or identity of a member of the State Bar for the purpose of practicing law. The bill would also make any person who has resigned from the State Bar, regardless of whether charges were pending, guilty of a crime if that person advertises or holds himself or herself out as practicing or entitled to practice law. The bill was introduced Feb. 15.

•SB 1559, by Sen. Liz Figueroa, D-Fremont, which would extend indefinitely a statute which allows minors under the age of 13 to testify via closed-circuit television in cases in which the minor is a victim of a sex crime or violent felony. The bill was introduced Feb. 20.

•SB 1603, by Sen. Rico Oller, R-Granite Bay, which would enact "collaborative law" proceedings for couples who have filed for divorce or separation, under which the couples would agree in writing to make a good faith effort to resolve their disputes with the assistance of their attorneys, without further court proceedings except court approval of their resulting agreement. The bill was introduced Feb. 20.

•SB 1604, by Sen. Ross Johnson, R-Irvine, which would institute a procedure in which jury commissioners and county elections officials would share information, and election officials would cancel the voter registration of any person who returned a jury summons indicating he or she is not a U.S. citizen. The bill was introduced Feb. 20.

•SB 1628, by Sen. Byron Sher, D-San Jose, which would require a court to award reasonable attorney's fees to an attorney general, district attorney or city attorney who prevails in a civil action to enforce an environmental law. The bill was introduced Feb. 21.

•SB 1732, by Sen. Martha Escutia, D-Montebello, which would state the intent of the Legislature "to address the issue of the advocacy of court facilities." The bill was introduced Feb. 21.

• SB 1897, by Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Los Angeles, which would provide that the chief trial counsel of the State Bar shall served at the direction of the Discipline Committee of the Board of Governors or its successor committee. The bill was introduced Feb. 22.