The Judge Is Going to Rest His Case : Judiciary: Blair T. Barnette, the longest sitting jurist in South County, is wrapping it up after 22 years in ‘a very likable court.’

Municipal Judge Blair T. Barnette never thought it would work out like this.

Barnette, 59, said he never expected to be a judge, and now here he is retiring after 22 years on the bench.

As a young prosecutor in Los Angeles, he loved courtroom action but did not imagine he would get a shot at running one.

“I don’t think you really dream of this; that would be looking too far ahead,” said Barnette. “This is a very likable court, and time went very quickly.”

Barnette, the longest sitting judge in South County, started and in January will end his judicial career at the once sleepy outpost in Laguna Niguel.

It was 1972 when then-Gov. Ronald Reagan appointed Barnette to join only two other judges in the new courthouse on the barren hillsides of Crown Valley Parkway. In those days, the courthouse also had a branch of the county building department and a Sheriff’s Department substation.

Not long before, the territory had been called the Laguna-San Clemente Judicial District after the only two incorporated cities in the area.

“I guess places that had more cows than people didn’t get figured in,” Barnette said with a laugh.”

But the creeping urbanization of the southern end of the county reveals itself in his clientele.

“This is a very unique court. Because it’s a nice area, our crime most of the time is fairly nice,” Barnette said. “It used to be real hard to get mad at the defendants here, but that’s changing. We’ve had some brutal things down here.”

Barnette said he sees more crime, more gangs and more homicides, and fewer drunks on horseback.

But Barnette himself hasn’t changed much, say his clerks and South County attorneys. He’s a creature of habit who, unlike many judges, has been content to remain in Municipal Court and preside over misdemeanors for the most part.

“I believe I have the best job in the state. . . . That’s why I’ve been dragging my feet about retiring,” Barnette said.

Barnette looks at home in his four-wheel-drive Bronco, and his mail often contains more correspondence about his hobby, trains, than judicial matters. Those are Topsider boating shoes peeking out from under his judicial robes.

Don’t ever underestimate his intelligence, however, local defense attorneys say. And don’t be late to his courtroom.

“He likes to be very, very efficient,” said Monica Richards of Santa Ana, his clerk since 1986. “We used to say ‘counter call is at 8:29 a.m. and 60 seconds.’ Seriously, he’s like that; he’s consistent. He’s also very smart and very funny and I’ll miss him a lot.”

Said a defense attorney, who asked his name not be used: “He starts court at 8:30, and if your client is not there by 8:31 there’s a bench warrant issued. . . . He likes to make people toe the line, but you always know what you’re going to get with Barnette. In that sense, he’s fair.”

The result is a court that stays promptly on calendar. David Estrada, a deputy public defender who is new to the courthouse, called Barnette “a no-nonsense judge with an excellent reputation for integrity. He’s very big about personal responsibility with everyone, the lawyers and the clients.”

Barnette, a Los Angeles County native, grew up in Arcadia, received both his undergraduate and law degrees at USC and then served for two years as a prosecutor for the city of Los Angeles.

By the early 1960s, he had moved to Corona del Mar where he had spent summers as a youngster. Barnette, a Republican, had not been active in politics or the county bar association, when he was appointed to the bench.

In the time since, no one has challenged him for his seat, so “my name has never appeared on the ballot.”

After his retirement, Barnette plans to continue as a judge on special assignment from time to time and otherwise spend hours playing golf at his second home in Palm Desert, with his wife, Dayna, and on his many hobbies.

The state judicial system, Barnette said, will remain in fine hands and will ably ride out changes, “three strikes” laws or whatever, he said.

“People have always had predictions of doom about the system, saying ‘You’ll never get through this.’ But I don’t get concerned about these big changes the way I used to,” Barnette said. “The system is pretty big, it may bellow out a little here and there, but eventually it will absorb the changes and go on its merry way.”