Don’t Delay on Court Safety : Stopgap bill needed while Legislature seeks permanent funding

The alarming lack of security at three local superior courthouses, almost a decade after a task force recommended tighter court security and weapons screening countywide, is symptomatic of the continuing--and severe--funding problem that plagues trial courts across the state. The Assembly has a chance Wednesday to make some headway on this matter by passing urgent legislation to provide stopgap funds for court operations.

Concern about lax security at the sprawling downtown civil courthouse has percolated for years. But the fatal shooting of a woman in a divorce case nearly 18 months ago galvanized court officials into purchasing four metal detectors. Today those devices, costing less than $2,000 each, have yet to be installed because the court cannot afford the $2 million it would cost to operate them and to implement other security measures throughout the building. That’s ridiculous--and reckless.

The surge in the number of criminal trials caused by California’s “three strikes and you’re out” sentencing law has pushed many proceedings involving violent offenders out of the Criminal Courts Building, which has metal detectors, to the nearby civil courthouse. And, as the divorce case shows, violence can erupt even during civil court proceedings when those involved have no history of violence.

And metal detectors are the least of it. Some courts face the threat of simply closing their doors this year if the state cannot make good on its long-standing promise to cover 70% of their operating costs--the money for salaries and building maintenance. Court funding was once largely a county responsibility, but with all counties now hard-pressed to pay for other basic services, such as welfare, the courts are caught short. That’s why the state some years ago promised to bail them out.

The bill before the Assembly Appropriations Committee Wednesday would provide $290 million to keep courts open while the Legislature fine tunes a more permanent funding solution. Only with that permanent solution can superior court judges here afford to order those metal detectors unpacked.