COUNTYWIDE : Bids to Open on New South County Court

The Laguna Niguel courthouse is so cramped that potential jurors often crowd the halls while waiting to be called. Court employees spill into the lounge to get work done. And prosecutors and public defenders, juggling a felony caseload that jumped 40% in two years, are relegated to trailer offices out back.

On Tuesday, the County Board of Supervisors will take a major step toward alleviating the crunch at Laguna Niguel Municipal Court: They are opening bidding for developers interested in building a new, $59-million courthouse.

“We are to capacity as far as space and it will only hold for so long,” said Margaret Hamlin, the court’s executive officer.

Currently, South County cases are split between the four-courtroom building in Laguna Niguel and a smaller court annex eight miles away in Laguna Hills, where traffic, civil and small claims cases are heard.

That’s no way to do business, said Presiding Judge Ronald P. Kreber. He said the system is inefficient and often confusing for many people who aren’t sure where they should go to pay a ticket or fine.

“For the taxpayers, we can’t continue with two courthouses. It’s not a good business move,” he said.

County officials are planning to build one new courthouse to serve the entire area, which includes San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Mission Viejo and Laguna Beach.

Under the plan scheduled to go before the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, bidding will be opened on a 292,500-square-foot South County Municipal Court building. The location has not been determined. Also Tuesday, supervisors will consider opening bidding on a second court construction project that would expand the Municipal Court in Santa Ana.

On the South County courthouse project, 11 courtrooms would be built during the first period of construction, with eight more added as needed in the future, said Jack Leaning, the director of architecture and engineering for the county’s General Services Agency.

Court officials say the expansion is needed because employees and judges are dealing with an increased caseload, including an explosion of felony filings. Court statistics show that South County courts handled 120,082 civil and criminal cases in 1992, including 929 felony cases, which is a nearly 40% increase from 1990 to 1992.

The current plans for the new court facility grew out of a 1991 Board of Supervisors decision to expand the South County legal system. The board originally envisioned a new court as the centerpiece of a South County civic center complex, but the estimated $178-million price tag was too expensive, according to a county report. The plan was scaled back to include only the courthouse.

The County Administrative Office is still determining how to pay for the first phase of the courthouse project, which is expected to take about 3 1/2 years. Pending approval by supervisors Tuesday, builders will have until April 4 to submit bids.

The second expansion project also under consideration deals with the Santa Ana Municipal Court. Supervisors are expected to begin seeking bids for a $41-million addition of a seven-story office building next to the existing courthouse with connections between the two buildings. The district attorney and public defender would probably be the primary tenants, county officials said.