County Wants All Trial Judges Disqualified in Courts Dispute

Saying the looming battle over trial court funding in Orange County has statewide implications, attorneys for the county have asked that every Superior Court judge in California be disqualified from ruling on the county’s money dispute with the judiciary here and that the case be kicked up to the appeals court level.

The motion, filed Wednesday in Orange County Superior Court, suggests that trial court judges statewide have a stake in the Orange County clash, which has pitted the court system against county government for what could be a lengthy legal battle.

At issue is a court order signed by the county’s six presiding judges demanding up to $23 million in additional funds they say they need to keep the courts fully operational until June 30, the end of the current budget year.

County supervisors challenged the court order last week, calling the request extravagant and “unreasonable . . . in light of the county’s present fiscal condition.”

A Los Angeles judge was appointed by the state Supreme Court to hear the case, after all Orange County Superior Court judges recused themselves because they are “a party to the litigation.”

But Robert L. Palmer, an attorney for the county, said the recusals shouldn’t stop there.

“Many of the same grounds for recusal [in Orange County] exist in terms of all trial judges in California,” Palmer said, noting that Superior Courts are funded by the counties they serve. “The issues here are of statewide concern. They affect all judges.”

In his motion, Palmer wrote that an appellate court judge would be the appropriate choice to hear the case because such courts receive no county funding.

“They are purely state-funded agencies,” Palmer said Wednesday. “An appellate judge wouldn’t be deciding on an issue that could impact his or her own court operations . . . somewhere down the road.”

Attorneys for Orange County’s top judges said they will oppose Palmer’s request and ask that the Supreme Court’s appointment of a Los Angeles County judge to the case be upheld.

“We think it can be a fair and impartial hearing as it is,” said Bill Grenner, a lawyer representing Orange County judges. “We’re relying on the wisdom of the Judicial Council.”

In addition, Grenner said, judges on the appellate level have a definite interest in “how the pie is cut in terms of court funding.”

“Any court is going to have roughly the same issues,” he said.

State law requires counties to provide the courts with “suitable” and “sufficient” facilities and personnel to operate, which judges contend has not been done in Orange County.

They have demanded $13 million to cover court operations and another $10 million for technology upgrades, capital projects and 56 new positions that would be filled next year. About $2 million would be used for an airport-style security system for the courthouse in Santa Ana.

County officials have said the courts require at most $2 million to continue operations through June, and last week approved a plan to provide that amount of additional funds. They have vowed not to allow any significant interruptions in court services.

“Everyone agrees that it’s critical we get this resolved as quickly as possible,” Palmer said.