COUNTYWIDE : Study Urged for New Federal Courthouse

A key House committee asked the General Services Administration on Friday to study the possible construction of a permanent federal courthouse in Orange County or northern San Diego County and report back within three months.

The House Public Works and Transportation Committee took the action at the request of Rep. C. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach), who called for the study after meeting with Orange County attorneys and judges. Cox is an attorney who formerly served as an assistant legal counsel in the White House when Ronald Reagan was President.

Orange County is part of the federal court system’s Central District of California, one of the busiest districts in the nation. Nearly all of the district’s cases are handled at the main federal courthouse in Los Angeles. Only two federal judges sit in Orange County, using a temporary courthouse.

“A courthouse in Orange County will serve to unclog the crowded dockets in Los Angeles and San Diego,” Cox said. “It will help keep Orange County business competitive. And it will ensure that all citizens have equal access to justice.”