The Court Facilities Working Group, which provides oversight of California's entire judicial branch facilities program, will meet on Wednesday, Oct. 19, and Thursday, Oct. 20, in the Malcolm M. Lucas Boardroom on the third floor of the Hiram W. Johnson State Building, 455 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco.
The Administrative Office of the Courts reported that the working group will discuss the future direction of the courthouse construction program and consider options for moving forward with the 41 courthouse projects planned with funding from Senate Bill 1407.
SB 1407 establishes a revenue stream – which includes court fines and penalties – to support courthouse construction.
However, the state “borrowed” around $310 million from the fund during approval of the new state budget, which has given rise to concerns about funding for the new courthouses.
Last month, when the state announced that it was moving forward with new plans for Lakeport's new courthouse – a 50,000-square-foot, $55 million facility set to be built at 675 Lakeport Blvd. – it indicated that it still wasn't clear how the issues with SB 1407 could affect the project.
“We recognize that significant funding reductions to the judicial branch will likely impact the branch’s courthouse construction program,” Administrative Presiding Justice Brad R. Hill of the Court of Appeal, Fifth Appellate District, who chairs the working group, said in a written statement.
Hill said the working group must act quickly to make recommendations to the Judicial Council.
“It’s an enormous job, and we need to gather as much input as possible in a short amount of time,” he said. “These projects have a significant impact not only in the 34 counties in which they would be located but statewide. We believe the public should have a voice on their future direction, whether they support or oppose a particular project or have other comments they wish the working group to hear.”
The working group has been directed to provide recommendations to the Judicial Council on the facilities projects as soon as possible after the October meeting, with the intent that the council could consider those recommendations by the end of the calendar year, the state reported.
Administrative Office of the Courts spokesperson Teresa Ruano said it's not yet clear if the working group will make a final decision about where the funding will go at the meeting.
She said the meeting later this month will be geared more toward receiving public comment.
“The courts actually had an opportunity to submit comments in writing ahead of the public,” Ruano said.
Ruano said that all 34 courts slated to get projects – including the Lake County Superior Court – submitted comments for the working group's consideration.
“The time that we have at the meeting we expect to give to members of the public,” said Ruano.
She said people are invited to come to the meeting or submit comments in writing ahead of time.
Lakeport Community Development/Redevelopment Director Richard Knoll, who along with other city officials has worked to keep the new courthouse in Lakeport, said Tuesday he anticipated the city would weigh in on the discussion.
The working group is opening up public comment on any aspect of the judicial branch facilities program.
Written comments are preferred. Comments may be e-mailed to
Comments received by 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 18, will be distributed to working group members at the meeting. The same e-mail address and postal address will remain open to the public at any time to comment on the facilities program or the work of the working group.
In-person comments can be made during the first hour of the working group’s meeting in San Francisco on Oct. 19, from 10 a.m. to 11a.m., which will be reserved for public comment.
Speakers will be limited to three to five minutes, depending on the volume of requests, and scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis.
To reserve time to speak, send your request by e-mail to
As part of the request, include: the speaker’s name, occupation, and (if applicable) name of the entity that the speaker represents; the speaker’s email address, telephone number and mailing address; and the courthouse project to be commented on, or the nature of the speaker’s interest in the SB 1407 program.
Those wishing to comment may also sign up at the beginning of the meeting, but time for public comment will be limited and allocated based on the number of requests to speak. After the comment period ends, the meeting will be closed to the public.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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