CALIFORNIA – APPROVES NEW SACRAMENTO COURTHOUSE PLAN, MODEL NOTICE FOR LANGUAGE ACCESS

At its public meeting on February 25-26, the council approved a recommendation from its Court Facilities Advisory Committee to update the scope, schedule, and budget for a new courthouse in downtown Sacramento. “Sacramento desperately needs a new courthouse,” said Justice Brad Hill, chair of the council’s Court Facilities Advisory Committee. “It needs a courthouse that is ADA compliant, that is secure, and that will meet the needs of the citizens of Sacramento for years to come.” The new courthouse will consolidate services and criminal and civil cases in a single secure 53-courtroom facility, replacing the overcrowded and inadequate Gordon D. Schaber Courthouse. Council approval enables staff to seek executive branch approval for a scope change for the project, after which it would move into architectural design. Increased Language Access in the Courts The council also received an update from its Language Access Plan Implementation Task Force, which highlighted resources created for courts to better serve the 7 million limited-English-speakers and potential court users in California. Based on input from a variety of justice system stakeholders, the improvements include a new model notice translated into eight languages that will inform limited-English-proficient court users about the availability of language services.

http://www.courts.ca.gov/34386.htm

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