Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Official Reverses Opinion on Courthouse Construction : Government: A few days after advising that building plans be shelved, Chief Administrative Officer Sally R. Reed calls for action ‘as quickly as possible.’

Just a few days after making a recommendation that construction of a new courthouse in Lancaster be put on indefinite hold, county Chief Administrative Officer Sally R. Reed on Monday toured the existing court and found conditions “overwhelming.”

After a 90-minute briefing and tour of the municipal and superior courts in Lancaster, Los Angeles County’s top administrator said, “I can’t help but be concerned about the position the courts are dealing with here. Something needs to be done as quickly as possible.”

In a 16-page report released last week, Reed recommended that eight courthouse construction projects, including the $80-million facility planned for Lancaster, be put on indefinite hold due to a lack of funds. Reed further recommended that the county continue only with courthouse projects in Chatsworth and near Los Angeles International Airport.

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But Reed said it is possible that a majority of the supervisors may agree that the Lancaster courthouse is a necessity. If so, Reed said, she is hopeful they will opt to build it rather than one of the two she has recommended. Supervisor Mike Antonovich had earlier suggested the Lancaster facility be built instead of the one in Chatsworth.

Antonovich, who represents the Antelope Valley and most of the San Fernando Valley, was prompted by the report to invite Reed to visit the overcrowded Antelope Valley courthouse.

While Reed was surprised at what she saw--crowded hallways, a meeting room at the nearby county library used as a courtroom and cramped work quarters--it was unlikely she would change her recommendation. Instead, Reed, who was in the Antelope Valley on Monday for the first time since she took over the chief administrative post Oct. 18, said she was looking forward to the options and suggestions raised by the supervisors.

Antonovich said, “I’m hopeful we can have some options so we can move forward.” The answer, he said, is for the Antelope Valley to have expanded facilities.

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Eric Webber, chief of the county’s capital projects division, said late Monday he had not talked with Reed since her morning visit to the courts in north Los Angeles County. Webber, whose division prepared the report on the courts, said, “I would be very surprised if our recommendation changed.”

The county has already spent millions of dollars on six of the eight courthouse projects, including nearly $6 million for the one in Lancaster that Reed said should be put on hold. “We need to stop spending money on six courts,” she said.

Antonovich said it is more than money that must be considered in making the decision on the fate of the courthouses, particularly the Antelope Valley facility.

“Don’t try to get divorced in the Antelope Valley,” said Antonovich deputy Lori Howard. “It takes five years.”

Antelope Municipal Judge Ian Grant, who has worked in the Antelope Valley since 1964 and plans to retire when his term expires at the end of the year, said the existing courthouse has grown over the last three decades, but unfortunately not enough. “The population growth has just outpaced the court.”

Fritz Ohlrich, assistant executive officer for the Administratively Unified Courts of Los Angeles County, said there are numerous courts within the county that are overcrowded. Antelope Valley, however, faces one of the most severe space shortages.

“The courts have agreed that if only two (courthouses) are to be built, the airport and Antelope Valley should be built,” Ohlrich said.

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Ironically, Chatsworth residents are opposed to the construction of a courthouse in their community. They have filed suit against the county to stop the $51.5-million court from being built.

Jan Caler, court administrator for the Antelope Judicial District, said the municipal court suffers from a severe lack of space. The court commissioner does not have a courtroom to work from and spends the mornings in a free courtroom. He then rotates between jury deliberation rooms and Caler’s conference room.

Howard Millings, senior judicial assistant, said the lack of superior court space means civil and criminal cases have to be transferred from the Antelope Valley to other courts, such as San Fernando or Van Nuys.

“It’s a bleak, bleak picture out here,” he said.

Construction of the new courthouse would best meet the needs, but Millings said if it is put on hold, portable trailer or leased space would at least lessen the problem.

“We really do need the courthouse,” he said. “If worse comes to worse, something’s better than nothing.”