Judges Approve Merger of Courts in Kern County

Kern County judges have narrowly voted to combine their two courts, ending the county’s battle as the last holdout in California for a dual-court system.

Under increasing state pressure, Superior Court judges voted 8 to 7 to replace the Municipal and Superior courts with a single entity. Those judges defeated an earlier merger proposal.

The vote among Municipal Court judges stood at 13 to 1 for the merger Monday night.

Officials with the state Judicial Council had threatened to deny funding for a new judge for eastern Kern County because of the refusal to unify the court system, said Superior Court Judge Arthur Wallace. That came after the council threatened to deny the county more than $250,000 in funds to upgrade technology--funds now expected to be on the way.