Old Courthouse Ties to Appellate Court Are About to Be Cut

The old Orange County Courthouse, which the state Legislature once wedded to the Court of Appeal, is about to become divorced.

With passage by a bill in the Senate on Thursday, the courthouse is just a few procedural steps from being freed from its controversial forced union with the 4th District Court of Appeal.

Supporters of the change said the courthouse, when freed, can be used for many things, including expansion space for Orange County Superior Court and Municipal Court.

The historic building in downtown Santa Ana is bound by a special state law specifying that it be used exclusively by the 4th District appellate court. That state court, however, has never met in the old building and has indicated it never wants to.

Law Background

The appeals court was linked to the old building by a law passed in the early 1980s that was written by then-Assemblyman Richard Robinson (D-Garden Grove). Robinson’s legislation, according to critics, was a shotgun wedding. The newly created Orange County division of the state Court of Appeal didn’t want to be forced to sit in the old structure. The court said the building didn’t have the space or facilities for its needs. But Robinson insisted and got the state law passed to back up his demand.

Robinson, once a powerful member of the Assembly, lost his legislative seat when he chose to run for Congress in 1986. He was defeated by incumbent Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove).

Assemblyman Ross Johnson (R-La Habra) introduced a bill this year to undo Robinson’s legislation restricting use of the old courthouse. It calls for allowing the old courthouse to be used “for any Superior Court, Municipal Court, museum or other county or harbor, beaches and parks district purpose, provided that no alteration shall be made to the property which unduly reduces the property’s historic integrity.”

Don Richardson, of the architect and engineering division of the Orange County General Services Agency, said Thursday that there is just one tenant in the old courthouse: the Historical and Cultural Planning Department of the county’s Environmental Management Agency. “They occupy a small part of the second floor, but everything else is vacant,” Richardson said.

Virtually No Opposition

If Johnson’s bill becomes law, as expected, “it’s still up in the air” about which other governmental agencies may move into the old courthouse, Richardson said.

The bill has met virtually no opposition in its trip through the Legislature. It passed the Assembly on June 3 on a 74-0 vote, and it passed the Senate on Thursday, with no debate, on a 38-0 vote.

In both cases, the bill was on the consent calendar, a legislative device for quick passage, without debate, of non-controversial bills.

The bill now returns to the Assembly for concurrence in minor amendments, and from there the measure is to go to Gov. George Deukmejian. Johnson’s office said Thursday that the governor’s signature is virtually assured. The bill has an urgency clause that makes it effective upon being signed.