Budget Cuts Threaten Courthouse : Simi Valley: The sheriff says he may have to remove deputies guarding the facility. He is also looking at other ways to reduce spending.

Sheriff Larry Carpenter said Thursday that proposed county budget cuts may require him to pull deputies from guarding the East County Courthouse in Simi Valley, which could force courtrooms there to close.

The 2-year-old courthouse on Alamo Street--which drew national attention last spring as the site of the first Rodney King beating trial--could be left without the deputies that state law requires to operate its courtrooms, Carpenter said.

Carpenter said he also is weighing other ways to decrease his department’s spending--such as eliminating the positions of some homicide or narcotics investigators--to meet a Board of Supervisors’ request to cut up to 10% from his $68.9-million budget.

Carpenter also revealed last week he is considering closing the East County Jail and booking facility, where prisoners from Simi Valley, Moorpark and Thousand Oaks are booked and temporarily held. That move could save the county $442,000 a year.

But closing the Olsen Road booking facility also would require police to spend more time taking suspects to the Ventura County Jail in Ventura, and closing the East County Courthouse would require east county residents to drive to the Ventura courthouse to handle small-claims civil cases and traffic tickets, officials have said.

“None of this is anything I want to do,” Carpenter said Thursday. “But the view that you can just keep squeezing and not reduce service to the public is erroneous.

“If I have to cut $5 million, there is not that kind of fat or fluff or not-essential items in the Sheriff’s Department, and real people and real functions and real public safety will be impacted,” he added. “My desire is we not close those facilities.”

Supervisor Vicky Howard said the supervisors have asked the sheriff to recommend cuts of 7.5% to 10% from his budget, but she added, “There is no intention to close the courthouse.”

Two sheriff’s deputies work as bailiffs in the courthouse, each assisting a Ventura County court commissioner--though that number was increased to eight or nine during the state trial that acquitted four Los Angeles police officers in the King beating.

The commissioners usually hear civil complaints and preside over traffic cases, but traffic defendants are sometimes transferred to the jail for other outstanding criminal violations.

State law requires a bailiff’s presence in each criminal courtroom for duties such as opening and closing the courtroom, summoning witnesses and ensuring that the jury is not disturbed, said Lt. Haskell Chandler, the sheriff’s administrative lieutenant for court services.

A sergeant on duty there serves as a supervisor and provides extra security in case a defendant must be moved from the courtroom to a holding cell, and a sheriff’s clerical worker is also stationed there, Chandler said.

Cutting the four positions would save about $245,300 per year, said Bob Riggs, business manager of the Sheriff’s Department.

Howard, whose office is in the courthouse, said she has expressed “very sincere concern” to Carpenter about making such cuts.

“Everything, technically, is on the table,” Howard said. “We’re looking at everything we’re spending money on.”

Carpenter said he expects to make his recommendations for spending cuts to the supervisors within “a couple weeks.”

He added: “Ultimately, those decisions rest with the Board of Supervisors. The list has not been finalized, the priorities have not been finalized.”

Meanwhile, eight employees of the county Building and Safety Division moved into the East County Courthouse building on March 1 and intend to stay, division head William Windroth said. About 35 county workers from the Children’s Services Division are scheduled to move there in April.