Building a Case for S. County : Judge Fights On for New Justice Center

Judge Pamela L. Iles once threatened to rename her courthouse the South Orange County Municipal Trailer Court after the handful of mobile offices that now encircle the main building.

The makeshift structures serve as offices for the district attorney, public defender and court staff, and are symbols of how the judiciary here has outgrown its existing facility.

If Iles has her wish, the courts will be located in a proposed $59-million justice center that some of the county’s major developers are lining up to build in South County.

The County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote within the next few weeks on whether to approve spending $400,000 to prepare architectural plans for the project, county officials said.

“We are closer than ever to having our dreams fulfilled,” Iles said. “But we have the scars to show how long it took us to get here. I’m not going to stop (lobbying) until it’s a definite.”

Iles, who was appointed to the bench nine years ago after stints as a deputy public defender and deputy district attorney, has mixed judicial might and, sometimes, friendly persuasion to get county officials to address the need for new court facilities.

Among her major hurdles is the perception that South County, with its cookie-cutter homes and manicured lawns, is no hotbed for crime, and therefore should not be a top priority.

But Iles contends that this perception is false. In fact, records show that court filings in Municipal Court in Laguna Niguel have almost doubled in the last decade--from 62,204 in 1981 to 118,055 in 1990.

“People who think we are immune to crime should spend a day in my courtroom,” she said. “We have drive-by shootings, severe drug problems, and because it is between (Los Angeles and San Diego), we are a stopping-off point for robberies.”

Iles said South County courts have also been deluged with civil, small claims and traffic cases simply because population in communities south of Irvine has skyrocketed in the past decade, from 238,174 in 1981 to 406,461 in 1990. Officials acknowledged that South County is one of the few growing areas in Orange County, adding that its population is projected to soar to 615,484 by 2010.

“These people come here when they want to sue their carpet cleaner, or their landscaper or their noisy neighbor,” Iles said. “Ten thousand more are coming each year and if we want to be the people’s court, we have to provide the needed services.”

Apart from setting up mobile offices around the Laguna Niguel courthouse, officials have rented a separate building eight miles away, on Moulton Parkway in Laguna Hills, to handle traffic, civil and small claims cases. But computer equipment and court files there suffer damage anytime it rains because the building has a leaky roof.

Iles, who is the head of the South County court building committee, hired a team of consultants more than a year ago to prepare a preliminary development report.

The consultants recommended a $178-million regional civic center to house municipal and superior courts, an arrest/arraignment processing center, a Sheriff’s Department substation and space for county offices.

County officials have acknowledged that such a project would ease overcrowded courts and would save South County residents thousands of trips to Santa Ana to transact business.

But citing a lack of funds, the county has trimmed the project to a 19-courtroom Municipal Court facility.

The architecture of the proposed building is a blend of two of the South County’s famous structures--Mission San Juan Capistrano and the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Dana Point. The building includes a bell tower and a large, Mediterranean-style patio area.

“The idea behind the architecture was for efficient operation,” said Iles, who traveled from Pasadena to San Diego on her days off to look at public buildings before deciding on the architecture. “We want to create a warm environment in the office for people to enjoy working and to make the courtroom the least comfortable place so people will be encouraged to leave quickly.”

Wary that the county’s dwindling coffers could threaten the project, officials have held private discussions with eight developers about ways to finance it. The developers--including Santa Margarita Co., Hutton Development, Koll Co. and a group of firms headed by developer Kathryn Thompson--have offered to locate the courthouse on their land.

Johnathan Wolin, a senior administrative manager with the county administrative office, said the county could actually save money in the long term by building a new courthouse.

“We have to pay extra staff to do what would have been the same job if we had one office,” Wolin said. “And we would not have to pay rent if the county builds its own.”

A recent CAO report suggested that the county could receive up to $13 million by selling the 25-acre parcel on which the Laguna Niguel courthouse now sits. Laguna Niguel Mayor Thomas W. Wilson said his city would “love to discuss this wonderful opportunity” to purchase the site for a proposed city hall and other offices.

Iles and Wolin believe that some developers might be interested in building a new courthouse and leasing it back to the county.

“Because of the state of the economy and the construction industry, this is an opportune time,” Wolin said. “Developers are certainly interested.”

Supervisors Gaddi H. Vasquez and Thomas F. Riley, whose 3rd and 5th districts, respectively, cover South County, say they support the project.

“We are very interested in it,” Vasquez said. “There is a strong recognition of the need for these facilities. Building dollars are at a premium so we’re looking at a public/private partnership and a number of opportunities to provide us with the financial basis to expand the facilities.”

Iles said she is not going to quit her efforts on behalf of a new building until she is certain that the project will be undertaken.

“We are growing so rapidly that our greatest fear is that we will be not be able to function,” Iles said. “We’ve got to look ahead, otherwise the wheels of justice would grind to a halt.”

Going to Court

The caseload in Municipal Court in Laguna Niguel dipped slightly last year after reaching a 10-year high in 1990. Between 1981 and 1990, the number of cases filed with the court increased 88%: 1981: 62,204 1991: 118,055 Source: Municipal Court, Laguna Niguel