Supervisors OK Master Plan for $508.1-Million Court Expansion

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has approved a master plan to build 246 more courtrooms over the next six years, including new courthouses in North Hollywood and Reseda.

The $508.1-million proposal, which would be paid with the county’s share of a surcharge on court fines, was approved Tuesday on a 3-1 vote as a major step toward expanding courtroom space for both Superior and Municipal courts.

The proposals for the San Fernando Valley, which must also be approved individually by the board, include a $36.9-million courthouse with eight municipal courts in Reseda and a $64.9-million structure with 15 superior courts in North Hollywood.

Administrators will not begin looking for proposed sites in the North Hollywood and Reseda areas until the beginning of next year because priority must be given to a more serious shortage of courtrooms in West Los Angeles, said Fritz Ohrlich, assistant court administrator for the Los Angeles Municipal Court.

Raymond Arce, director of special operations for Los Angeles Superior Court, said the county has not determined how many judgeships it will ask the state Legislature to create to staff the proposed courtrooms.

Filling Vacancies

“With respect to the Reseda and North Hollywood courts, there probably will be some new judgeships or there will be a reallocation of existing judgeships,” Arce said. “It’s just too early to tell.”

The board Tuesday also authorized $6 million to be spent over a two-year period on improving courtroom security. The board’s action followed a gun battle March 9 in a Van Nuys municipal courtroom in which a bailiff was wounded before he shot a gunman to death.

Court officials hailed the board’s approval of the master plan as a significant step toward meeting the increasing demand for courtrooms in the Valley. They said existing courthouses in San Fernando and Van Nuys are not large enough, nor could they satisfy the need for courtrooms in the southern and western sections of the Valley. “It’s clear that the caseload in the Valley, like in other areas in the county, continues to grow,” said Eric Webber, chief deputy county clerk for the Los Angeles Superior Court. “To avoid tremendous delays, we have to have more facilities.”

Ohrlich said the new 10-story, $50-million Van Nuys Municipal Courthouse, which is nearing completion, will do little to meet the need.

The Van Nuys Municipal Court is currently housed in seven trailers, six wooden bungalows and two floors of the Superior Court Building, which is next to the site of the new building on Sylmar Avenue. The new building will house 23 courtrooms.

“The net gain with the new building will only be one municipal court,” Ohrlich said. “We’ve just got to have more courtrooms in the West Valley.”

But Gregg Marcus, supervising judge of the San Fernando Municipal Court, said he is concerned about the number of facilities that may be built in the Valley in coming years.

“Too many courts in too many areas aren’t conducive to efficiency because the lawyers have to run around all over the place, which takes up precious time during the day,” Marcus said. “We need fewer, larger courthouses in the West, East and central Valley, rather than a bunch of little ones all over the place.”

Teri Burns, legislative assistant to state Sen. Alan Robbins (D-Van Nuys) said the Reseda and North Hollywood areas, which are in Robbins’ district, were chosen in the early 1980s after discussions with court administrators. She said the proposed courthouse in North Hollywood has become part of the area’s redevelopment district plan.

Funding for the courthouses would come from two funds established in the early 1980s that collect surcharges on parking tickets and court fines.

Debbie Lizzari, administrative analyst for the county chief administrative officer, said surcharges generate about $46 million annually, enough to finance the proposed facilities.