State’s Chief Justice to Tour County Courts

California Chief Justice Ronald M. George will tour four of the county’s courthouses today to get a firsthand look at some of the court system’s successes--and some of its problems.

The tour comes at a time when court officials are battling the Board of Supervisors for more court funding, which they say is crucial if they are to keep their trial courts operating through the next several months.

“We hope to show him the result of our coordination efforts, our innovations and our challenges,” said Kathleen E. O’Leary, assistant presiding judge of Orange County Superior Court.

The chief justice’s visit is part of an effort by him to travel personally to each trial court in the state. He will begin his day at the Municipal Court in Laguna Niguel before traveling to the Orange County Courthouse in Santa Ana.

In Santa Ana, George will tour detention facilities in Municipal Court and will view presentations on courthouse programs including: felony and misdemeanor video arraignments; a court dedicated to handling drug cases; computer systems and an automated case management system.

The chief justice will then tour the Betty Lou Lamoreaux Justice Center in Orange to see several state-of-the-art computer and security systems that are used in that facility. He will end his day at Municipal Court in Fullerton, where space problems in the courthouse’s detention facility are expected to be addressed, court officials said.