Due to a projected significant shortfall in the funding stream for courthouse construction projects, on August 11, 2016, the Judicial Council of California (JCC) Court Facilities Advisory Committee (CFAC) voted to recommend to the JCC that all 23 current judicial branch courthouse construction projects – including the new Ukiah Courthouse – be grouped into four broad categories that would determine how far an individual project can proceed until adequate, stable funding is restored for the statewide courthouse construction program.
The proposed categories of “Currently Under Construction”, “Acquisitions”, “Ongoing Design Work”, and “2016/17 Construction Awards” would determine how far forward a project would proceed. The projects are grouped as follows:
1. Projects Currently Under Construction – Recommendation: Complete Construction
Santa Clara Superior Court – New Santa Clara Family Justice Center
San Joaquin Superior Court – Stockton Courthouse
San Diego Superior Court – Central Courthouse
Alameda Superior Court – East County Hall of Justice, Dublin
Tehama Superior Court – Red Bluff Courthouse
Merced Superior Court – New Los Banos Courthouse
2. Acquisitions – Recommendation: Complete site due diligence, then hold
El Dorado Superior Court – New Placerville Courthouse
Inyo Superior Court – Inyo County Courthouse
Los Angeles Superior Court – New Eastlake Juvenile Courthouse
Mendocino Superior Court – New Ukiah Courthouse (complete second half of Acquisition, then hold)
3. Ongoing Design Work – Recommendation: Complete current phase of design, then hold
Riverside Superior Court – New Mid-County Civil Courthouse (Preliminary Plans)
Sacramento Superior Court – New Sacramento Criminal Courthouse (Preliminary Plans)
Sonoma Superior Court – New Santa Rosa Criminal Courthouse (Preliminary Plans)
Stanislaus Superior Court – New Modesto Courthouse (Preliminary Plans)
Lake Superior Court – New Lakeport Courthouse (Working Drawings: Complete study for budget review; Court Facilities Advisory Committee to consider recommending restarting after budget review)
Santa Barbara Superior Court – Santa Barbara Criminal Courthouse (Preliminary Plans:
Complete study for budget review; Court Facilities Advisory Committee to consider
recommending restarting after budget review)
Los Angeles Superior Court – New Los Angeles Mental Health Courthouse (Prepare
Design-Build Request for Qualifications/Request for Proposals package)
4. 2016/17 Construction Starts – Recommendation: Obtain final approvals, then hold
Siskiyou Superior Court – New Yreka Courthouse (Has approvals – hold)
Imperial Superior Court – New El Centro Courthouse
Riverside Superior Court – New Indio Juvenile and Family Courthouse
Shasta Superior Court – New Redding Courthouse
Tuolumne Superior Court – New Sonora Courthouse
Glenn Superior Court – Willows Courthouse Renovation/Expansion
“Approximately $1.4 billion was redirected, borrowed, shifted, and transferred from the Immediate and Critical Needs Account, and $110 million of the $250 million annual funds in the construction account—almost 45 percent—has been permanently redirected to other purposes that were never part of the original plan to replace the most immediate and critical courthouses,” according to Presiding Justice Brad Hill, Chair of CFAC. “We are trying to replace facilities that have severe security, seismic, ADA, space and other deficiencies. This is a matter of providing the public and all court users with safe and secure courthouses to access justice. Tens of thousands of Californians visit our courthouses on a daily basis—they deserve nothing less.”
Construction fund redirections during the state’s fiscal crisis and a decline in funds from reduced filings and fine and fee revenue have dramatically cut the funds available for the bonds needed to replace unsafe and substandard facilities and build court facilities that serve the needs of all court users.
The next steps will involve CFAC preparing a report for the JCC’s August 25-26 Meeting, and continuing funding advocacy efforts on behalf of the judicial branch and local courts and justice system partners with the Legislature.
For more information contact:
Christopher Ruhl, Court Executive Officer
Superior Court of California, County of Mendocino
100 N. State Street, Room 303
Ukiah, CA 954825
(707) 467-6437
http://www.mendocino.courts.ca.gov/docs/press/2016-0817.pdf
Categorized in: Legal Procedure
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