L.A. County to Gain Money, Judges if Bill Gets Signature

Los Angeles County officials are expecting a $100-million windfall if the governor signs a bill that would shift to the state the cost of operating Superior and Municipal courts.

If the bill is signed, the county would also gain 14 Superior Court judges and eight municipal judges.

In the San Fernando Valley, that could mean one or two new Superior Court judges and up to four municipal judges, court officials said.

In Ventura County, the bill received a mixed review. County officials were pleased that they would realize at least $3 million from the funding takeover and gain a municipal judge, but they were angry that the bill would give about $1 million to three of the richest cities in the county instead of the county government.

The landmark legislation, transferring the trial-court costs from the county to the state, was hastily drafted last week and passed by the Legislature early Saturday morning, just before it adjourned for the year.

The law will take effect July 1 if signed. Gov. George Deukmejian has said he is leaning toward signing it.

‘Substantial Savings’

“This will be a substantial savings to the taxpayers,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich, whose district includes the Valley.

Legislative analysts estimate the windfall to Los Angeles County will be about $113 million, but county finance officials are hesitant to say that the savings will exceed $100 million. County officials are conducting their own analysis.

Antonovich said he would prefer seeing the county’s windfall earmarked for hospital trauma centers that treat life-threatening injuries. Financial problems have shut five of the county’s 22 trauma centers, none of them in the Valley.

The bill would save counties $285 million a year on operation of the Superior and Municipal courts. It would mean a shift in financial responsibility long sought by California’s county officials. It also would allow Deukmejian to name 109 judges throughout the state--the largest appointment of California judges ever.

In answer to the governor’s call for cost- and time-saving reforms in the trial courts, the bill would test a method of speeding jury selection. Pilot projects in Santa Cruz and Fresno counties would be set up to experiment with judges, rather than attorneys, questioning potential jurors.

Funding Shift Not Automatic

The bill “won’t change the way we do business,” said Frank S. Zolin, executive officer of the Los Angeles County Superior Court. But he said that county officials will be more likely to support expansion of the court system if their funding burden is lightened.

Under the bill, the funding shift is not automatic. Boards of supervisors, along with Superior and Municipal court officials, would decide whether to keep their funding mechanisms intact or change them to allow the state to assume the cost of court operation.

“I certainly will recommend to the Superior Court that they opt into the program,” Zolin said.

The 14 Superior Court judges to be added in Los Angeles County would not come close to the 100 judges needed because of growing caseloads, Zolin said. He said the Valley needs as many as 20 more judges and may get one or two should the bill go into effect in July. But most in need of more judges are the downtown and Santa Monica courts, he said.

The bill would give Los Angeles County eight new municipal judges, four in the city and one each in the Antelope Valley, Compton, East Los Angeles and South Bay.

“I can almost guarantee that all four will end up in Van Nuys,” said presiding Municipal Judge George Trammell. He said the new judges are needed downtown but there is no space for them. But, in Van Nuys, a Municipal Court building with six courtrooms will open in May.

In Ventura County, the news about the windfall from the financing shift was overshadowed by news that an amendment tacked onto the bill gives Thousand Oaks, Camarillo and Simi Valley about $1 million in county funds to share.