New Judge to Help Shoulder Heavy Caseload in Lancaster : Superior Court: The area will soon have a fourth judicial officer, but some say two more are needed. Hundreds of civil trials are on hold.

At the Antelope Valley Courthouse in Lancaster, where a staggering workload has forced the creation of makeshift courtrooms and prevented hundreds of civil cases from going to trial, officials are welcoming the appointment of a second Superior Court judge.

Judge Charles E. Horan, a former Glendale Municipal Court judge and Los Angeles County prosecutor, said Friday that he expects to start work in Lancaster in about 10 days, after completing a murder trial in downtown Los Angeles.

Presiding Superior Court Judge Richard P. Byrne said he chose Horan to join Judge Margaret M. Grignon in Lancaster Superior Court because of an enormous rise in criminal and civil cases that has accompanied the area’s population growth. In addition to Grignon, two Superior Court commissioners hear juvenile and family matters. Horan’s arrival will bring the number of judicial officers to four.

“There has been a demonstrated need for a long period of time,” Byrne said in a telephone interview Friday. “The percentage of growth in the Antelope Valley has been greater than in other parts of the county.”

The number of criminal cases filed in Lancaster Superior Court has tripled since 1986 and the number of criminals sent to prison from the court has increased fourfold during the same period, according to county statistics. The number of civil cases has increased 103% since 1985, with 1,400 civil filings projected by the end of the year, Grignon said Friday.

Grignon, supervising Deputy Dist. Atty. Stephen L. Cooley and other Lancaster officials have been lobbying for additional judges, citing studies that show the caseload calls for at least six judicial officers.

“We’ve been talking about this for two years,” Cooley said. “It’s welcome and it’s long overdue.”

Byrne said judicial vacancies and a countywide shortage of judgeships delayed the appointment.

To keep up with the workload, Grignon has been taking work home and diverting some criminal cases to the San Fernando courts. She also has postponed hearing civil cases; there has not been a civil trial in Lancaster this year, and last year there were only two, Grignon said.

Horan will take over the bulk of criminal cases when he arrives, Grignon said, with a juvenile commissioner handling the overflow. Meanwhile, Grignon said she will concentrate on civil matters.

At the end of the year, Grignon will leave the Antelope Valley to fill an appellate court position to which she was appointed recently. She and other officials will meet with County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, seeking a commitment that the new judgeship will be retained.

Byrne said the decision will be left to the new presiding judge, Ricardo A. Torres, who will take over in January.

Horan, 39, comes to Lancaster after three years on the Municipal Court bench. Before his appointment in 1987, he was a deputy district attorney in the major narcotics and forfeiture section of the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

Horan has also gained a name as a part-time rock musician. He plays lead guitar in a band named Use a Guitar, Go to Prison.