County Loses Funds for Temporary Judgeships

Already struggling with two vacant judgeships, Ventura County has lost state funding for two temporary judges who were helping to take up the slack.

The cut, which took effect July 1, exacerbates pressures in a court system already strained to the limit, said Sheila Gonzales, the county’s top court administrator.

“So far we are managing to keep our heads above water,” Gonzales said. “But we’re short. We have more work than we do judges.”

Presiding Judge Charles W. Campbell expressed frustration that the Legislature enacted rules on how quickly cases must be disposed, but stopped short of giving courts the resources needed to carry out those rules.

“It’s like saying to someone, ‘Drive this car from New York to San Francisco. We’ll give you five gallons of gas. Good Luck. And if you don’t make it, we’ll penalize you,’ ” Campbell said.

Because of the funding cut, the court has lost the services of two retired judges who worked virtually full time on civil cases.

“This is a significant blow to our hopes of keeping civil [cases] current,” Campbell said.

Although he could not cite numbers, Campbell said already the court is starting to pile up a trailing list--longer than before the recent budget cuts--of cases ready for trial, but have nowhere to go to court.

At full capacity, Ventura County has 27 judges.

And even at full capacity, the county still needs more judges, Gonzales said.

The situation is so dire that the county has already received approval for a new judgeship. Legislation is pending in Sacramento that would grant Ventura County money for that judge to start Jan. 1.

In the meantime, the court is down two full-time judges.

Judge Robert Bradley was suspended earlier this year after a series of drunk-driving arrests, and Judge Allan Steele retired in June.

The court is waiting for an appointment for Steele, with an announcement expected from the governor’s office any day, Gonzales said.

The court is also awaiting a decision on what will happen with Bradley.

Bradley was sentenced in June to six months in jail for violating his probation. He is in an alcohol treatment center in Prescott, Ariz., and will report to Ventura County Jail in September.

To cover the judicial shortfall, between four and five retired judges were assigned to the bench through July 1 to keep cases moving through the system.

But with the recent consolidation of Municipal and Superior courts came additional expenses, so the pool of money available to pay retired judges shrank by nearly 25% on July 1.

As part of the consolidation, the state must raise the salary of Municipal Court judges so the pay equals that of Superior Court judges.

“When their approved plans kicked in, the money got used,” Gonzales said.

The result has been a reduced budget available to pay retired judges.

“The first half of the year we had $117,487,” said Beth Hodgeson, deputy executive officer of courts administration. “That is approximately 24% less than the year before.”

Consequently, the courts have had to cut the number of retired judges assigned to the bench from five to three.

Gonzales said the state Judicial Council will look again in October to see if it can increase the budget.

In the meantime, just three weeks after funds were cut, judges are already feeling the backlog.

Campbell said the cut came with almost no advance notice.

“The place to start is that we received this information in the end of June, and it was effective July 1,” Campbell said.

But if things get too bad, Gonzales said, the state would step in with extra money.

“If we were in a dire pinch, if we had to dismiss cases or something, I’m sure they [state officials] would give us help,” she said.

Campbell was less optimistic.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said. “Before, you could always apply for extra funds in an emergency. . . . Now I’m not sure there’s that money to get.”