VENTURA : Former City Lawyer Sought for Jail Term

A former Ventura deputy city attorney failed to surrender to jail officials to begin a 30-day sentence for practicing law without a license, the case prosecutor said Wednesday.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Matthew J. Hardy said paperwork is being completed to obtain an arrest warrant for Kenneth G. Makature, 55, who was to surrender at the jail Friday.

Makature was sentenced to jail last month in what Ventura County attorneys believe is the state’s first felony conviction for practicing law without a license. Superior Court Judge Charles W. Campbell Jr. postponed the start of the sentence for three weeks to allow Makature time to arrange his affairs.

Makature, who was Ventura’s deputy city attorney from 1981 to 1987, pleaded guilty in March to three counts of representing clients in court in September while his license was suspended for failing to pay the annual $478 dues to the State Bar Assn.

It was the fourth time in Makature’s 28-year legal career that his license was suspended for failing to pay bar dues.

His license was reinstated Oct. 14 after he paid the dues, but the State Bar suspended Makature again because of his criminal conviction.

Hardy said bar officials have filed court documents to take over Makature’s law practice so they can gain access to his case files and return them, where appropriate, to Makature’s former clients.

An Aug. 13 hearing is scheduled on the State Bar’s request, Hardy said.