The decision, made by the Judicial Council of California on July 29, is in response to the “unprecedented statewide fiscal crisis and judicial branch budget reductions,” according to a council statement.
In all, the state's entire judicial branch is facing $414 million in reductions, officials reported.
In July, the state Legislature authorized the Judicial Council to close the superior courts, the Courts of Appeal and the Supreme Court for one day per month, according to the Lake County Superior Court.
All state courts will be closed on the third Wednesday of the month beginning Sept. 16 and running through June 16, 2010, the officials reported. The move is expected to save $94.3 million on a statewide basis.
The council also reallocated $159 million in special funds to offset cuts to the trial court operations budget. In addition, state Chief Justice Ronald M. George indicated he'll take a pay cut, and urged other judges to do the same. Furloughed court employees will be subject to pay cuts.
The Lake County Superior Court reported that the closure days will be treated as holidays for the purposes of scheduling hearings and calculating filing deadlines.
In a statement issued Monday, Presiding Judge Rick Martin said the Superior Court of Lake County received a budget reduction of $406,023 which is 11.9 percent of the court’s budget for the 2009-10 fiscal year.
That has led to the court having to make difficult decisions to absorb this budget reduction while still maintaining access to justice to the residents of Lake County, according to Martin's statement.
To help close the budget gap, Martin's statement noted that all court employees – including judges – have agreed to take the court closure days as unpaid furlough days, which is a 4.62-percent reduction in pay.
Local court staff will continue to work hard to minimize the impact that these closures will have on the public, however longer lines and longer wait times on the telephone should be expected, officials reported.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Rich Hinchcliff said Wednesdays happen to be trial days in Lake County.
Locally, trials typically start on Tuesdays, with anywhere from one to three courtrooms available, Hinchcliff said. The closures will push those trials into the next week.
“The biggest impact it's going to have on us is we have a huge backlog of cases we've got to get out,” said Hinchcliff.
There are not enough courtrooms and trial days now, said Hinchcliff. He estimated there are 150 to 160 felony cases on the criminal trial calendar that are set for trial between now and January. He didn't have an estimate of the number of misdemeanors set for trial.
Stephen Carter, who administers the county's public defender contract through Lake Legal Defense Services Inc., also noted the backlog, which he said is nothing new in the judicial system, with the number of cases that go to trial locally.
Carter said he thinks the mandatory closures “will slow down the process of individual trials,” but shouldn't impact major court calendars, as hundreds of cases currently are handled on Mondays and Fridays.
“The only effect is going to be on ongoing trials,” he said of local courts, with some trials becoming longer. “That's not ideal.”
With the Judicial Council having to respond to the emergency situation, Carter said the Wednesday closures actually work well for the local court system. In some counties, Wednesday are a major calendar day, with the closures having the potential to become a significant issue for court calendar management.
The Judicial Council of California directed that a report be prepared and submitted by next January on the savings from the court closures and the impacts on court users, county justice partners and court operations. The council will use the report to decide whether to continue or reduce the number of monthly closures for the remainder of the fiscal year.
“Hopefully it's going to be temporary,” said Hinchcliff.
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