New Courthouses Key to Judicial Changes

The building boom in Los Angeles county courts will continue paying off this year with the opening of a courthouse in the Antelope Valley and another in western San Fernando Valley.

In 2001, residents across the county can also expect more community outreach and better service from the Los Angeles County Superior Court, a behemoth that is trying to reposition its sprawling branches as small, neighborhood-friendly courts, said James Bascue, the court’s presiding judge.

New rules established by the Judicial Council, the policymaking arm of the California Supreme Court, mandate that presiding judges “support and encourage the judges to actively engage in community outreach . . . and to obtain appropriate community input regarding the administration of justice.”

There are plans to expand a meet-your-judges series of forums, now held in only three or four areas a year, into every one of the county’s 12 Superior Court districts. Bascue has also told the supervising judges of each district to get out of their courthouses more and into the communities they serve.

The key is to have judges “establish a dialogue” with the public, said Jerrianne Hayslett, spokeswoman for the county’s Superior Court. Courts will also ask people how they can provide better service.

A one-day or one-trial jury service program will continue its countywide roll-out. Already, 14 courthouses have converted to the popular program, which allows summoned jurors to complete their duty in as little as one day.

On the heels of the 1999 opening of a courthouse near Los Angeles International Airport, three more new buildings are in the works to expand the county’s court system.

A civil courthouse is scheduled to open Feb. 5 in Palmdale. The hacienda-style building will handle civil cases, including small claims, probate and family law.

The opening of the Palmdale courthouse will mark the first time in more than 10 years that civil cases will be heard in the Antelope Valley, officials said.

For the last decade, and despite rapid population growth in the Antelope Valley, area residents with civil matters had to drive to San Fernando, Van Nuys or downtown Los Angeles to have their days in court.

The $3.8-million, 18,500-square-foot building was financed with municipal bonds issued by the city of Palmdale and will be leased to Los Angeles County at $1 a year.

In the western San Fernando Valley, a new courthouse in Chatsworth at Winnetka Avenue and Plummer Street is set to open in November. It will handle misdemeanors and civil disputes involving less than $25,000.

The 292,000-square-foot, three-story building will have 10 courtrooms, a lockup and a cafeteria.

The $96.8-million cost of the Chatsworth court, which is the first built in the Valley since 1989, is funded through fines and forfeitures. The same fund paid for a new courthouse near LAX and will finance a new courthouse in Lancaster expected to be completed in 2 1/2 years.

In Van Nuys, two changes will reflect what Bascue calls “a new orientation” in how Los Angeles courts conduct business.

On Feb. 20, the civil court in Van Nuys will convert from a “master calendar” to a “direct calendar” system, under which cases will be assigned immediately after complaints are filed, and the same judge will shepherd the case to the end.

Also new in Van Nuys will be a community court for handling petty crimes such as loitering, public disturbance and vandalism. The court would make offenders pay reparations in the form of community service to the neighborhood.