What happened to small claims court?

I recently learned that Los Angeles Superior Court does not offer small claims adjudication services at the Glendale courthouse any longer. The civil court clerk informed me that the service was terminated as of last May. Small claims court at Glendale was always very busy. There was a long wait for new filings or continuances.

Litigants now will have to travel to Alhambra to file and have their matter heard. This seems absurd. If the court system decided to do this to save money, a better option would have been to reduce the number of civil courts at Glendale. The remaining courtrooms could have easily absorbed the overflow from the ones that were discontinued.

Alex Janikian
Glendale