Funding for Additional Local Judges Threatened : Courts: Supervisors are also told the Simi Valley courthouse would incur the brunt of state’s proposed reductions for area.

State funding for additional Ventura County judges would be threatened under cutbacks proposed for court services this year, officials said Monday.

Services at the East County Courthouse in Simi Valley also would be reduced by half, Court Administrator Sheila Gonzalez told the Board of Supervisors during a budget study session.

“The proposed reductions of $495,800 would mean courts would not be able to handle the workload created by law enforcement agencies, the district attorney and other people who use the court,” Gonzalez said.

The East County Courthouse, with a staff of 25 and an annual $1-million budget, would incur the brunt of the cuts, Gonzalez said. Its two court commissioners hear mostly traffic, civil and small-claims cases, as well as Municipal and Superior Court arraignments.

“We do not want to reduce services in the east county,” Gonzalez told the board.

“The people out there need the same level of service” as in the west county, she said. “We have not been able to give them that same level of service because we have not had the resources to do so. It would be sending a very negative message for us not to provide at least the level of service we’re now providing.”

Gonzalez warned that if her office cannot process and adjudicate court cases according to state standards, it would risk losing some state funding.

“State-mandated requirements for adjudicating cases within specified periods of time would not be met,” she said. “If we don’t meet those time frames, we lose our eligibility for additional judgeships and we lose our place in funding.”

During her presentation, Gonzalez said her $23-million budget is not protected under a recently approved county ordinance that exempts public safety agencies such as the Sheriff’s Department and the district attorney’s office from cutbacks.

Yet the workload in her department is directly affected by the number of arrests and cases filed and prosecuted by those agencies, she said.

“We cannot afford to be [hurt] when the courts are really the hub of the wheel that keeps justice for all alive and well in Ventura County,” Gonzalez said.

Officials are working to obtain state funding to hire judges for the Simi Valley courthouse, which opened five years ago. Only two of the six courtrooms are now in use.

Vince Ordonez, assistant executive officer of the courts system, said it has not been decided what services would be cut or moved back to the Government Center in Ventura if funding is reduced.

He said it also was not clear whether his department, which includes 317 employees, would have to let workers go. “Our goal is not to lay off people,” he said.

Supervisor Judy Mikels, whose district includes Simi Valley, said reducing services at the courthouse is a real possibility, but vowed to work hard to avoid such action.

“I know this wasn’t an idle threat,” she said. “But I think we’ll find a way around it.”

Board Chairwoman Maggie Kildee said moving some services back to Ventura would “make the money go further, but there will be a lot of pressure to keep services available in the east county.”

Also Tuesday, Fire Chief James Sewell requested $4.3 million in sales-tax revenues reserved for public safety agencies to pay for three new firetrucks, computer equipment and moving the department’s communications center into a new building at Camarillo Airport.

Sewell stressed his concern about the department’s aging fleet. Of the department’s 42 firetrucks, he told the board that 15 have more than 100,000 miles on them. Another 16 trucks have 50,000 to 100,000 miles.

The trucks cost about $200,000 apiece.

The Board of Supervisors will begin making final budget decisions next Tuesday.