BURBANK : Court Expansion Celebrated at Event

Forty years after Burbank’s courthouse was dedicated on what used to be a Methodist parsonage, officials marked the opening Monday of a $7.9-million addition to the facility.

The city began planning the expansion more than eight years ago with the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in an effort to deal with a backlog of cases and a lack of parking.

The refurbished courthouse includes new offices for the district attorney and public defender, a new Superior Court room, a new Municipal Court room, clerk’s offices, a jury facility and an expanded prisoner holding cell.

The remodeled facility also features heightened security systems that will allow jurists to hear felony matters on site. In the past, criminal trials have been transferred to other jurisdictions from Burbank’s Municipal Court.

Officials have yet to set a date for the opening of new criminal court facilities, said Court Administrator Evelyn Glenn.

Judge Marion Gubler on Monday reminisced about the courthouse’s former security procedures, saying several prisoners actually attempted to escape from his courtroom over the years. The remodeled facility will prevent such attempts, he added. The new facilities will also allow jurists to deal more efficiently with their current caseloads and add more room for judges to hear additional matters, Glenn said.

The opening of the first phase of the 32,000-square-foot expansion--funded by bonds issued by the county--was the culmination of the cooperative effort between the county and the city.

City officials fulfilled their end of the agreement when they opened a $3.2-million, 500-space parking structure at 3rd and Angeleno streets in May.

The second phase, which will include remodeling portions of the older court structure to meet Americans With Disabilities Act requirements and creating additional office space in the basement area, is due to be completed in February.

Monday’s ceremony featured the unveiling of a plaque recognizing the rededication of the courthouse. In an era of decreasing city spending and cutbacks in municipal services, this was an unusual project, County Supervisor Mike Antonovich said.

“This project was completed on time and on budget. In today’s time of so little public funding, it’s very difficult to have a new state-of-the-art courthouse--but you have one here,” he said.