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Courts not a threat to precious county office space in Bishop |
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Monday, 08 October 2007 |
 The Inyo County Sheriff?s substation is just one of several county offices sharing space with the state courts in the Bishop City Hall building. New leases are being negotiated for the space, with the courts eyeing acquiring space (the council chambers?) for another court room sometime in the future. Photo by Jon Klusmire By Jon Klusmire
Register Staff 10-6-2007
Maintaining a good relationship with the county will take precedence over efforts to secure another courtroom and additional office space in Bishop.
“It’s no secret we’re looking for more space in Bishop,” said Inyo County Superior Court Presiding Judge Dean Stout. But the judge’s, and ultimately the state court system’s, effort to obtain at least one additional court room in Bishop will not be allowed to get in the way of ongoing negotiations between Inyo County and the City of Bishop to renew the county’s leases on various offices in the Clark Wing of the Bishop City Hall.
Stout said his long-term goal would be to have two courtrooms in Bishop and two in Independence, which would smooth out scheduling conflicts and generally increase the efficiency of the Superior Court’s operations. With a stately council chambers and a large, underutilized space in the auditorium, there seemsto be some options for adding a new courtroom in the City Hall building.
Some “false rumors” have arisen about what might happen to both the court and county officers in the Bishop City Hall annex, Stout recently told the Independence Civic Club.
The county’s lease with the city has expired for offices in the Civic Center that provide space for the District Attorney, the sheriff’s substation, plus the court room, jury room and court office space, Stout noted.
Stout said he has stressed to county officials and Bishop City Administrator Rick Pucci that the courts don’t want to get in the way of the negotiations between the two governments about a new lease. “We respect the county’s needs and the city’s needs” in the lease talks, said Stout.
For now, Stout said he would like to simply “maintain the status quo” in the wing of City Hall that holds the courts and county offices, and said he would definitely not be trying to move into any county space or otherwise disrupt the current setup.
The potential for changes in the current array of office prompted Inyo County District Attorney Art Maillet to propose moving his offices across the street to the vacant Bellé Vous building. No action has been taken on that request.
The courts and the county have maintained a good relationship for decades, Stout said, and maintaining that relationship was more important than coming to some quick solution to the court’s needs for more space in Bishop.
The city has not evicted the county or the courts from their space in the annex, and talks are continuing, Stout said. He noted that this round of lease talks are a bit more complicated than those in the past because eventually, the lease for the court facilities will be transferred to the state and the county will not be involved as it has been for decades.
Still, Stout was confident that “it looks good for all three – the courts, the county and the city.”
Under state law, the court system is now taking control of the courtrooms and other facilities it uses, instead of relying on counties to provide space for the courts.
Stout, the state and Inyo County recently came to an agreement that would “transfer” the status of the Superior Court offices and court rooms in Independence from the county to the state. Although the state did not gain title to any part of the courthouse, it did gain the “exclusive use” of the court rooms and offices it uses. The county will still pay to maintain the court’s space, but the key to the deal for the county is that it will no longer be responsible in the future for supplying “adequate facilities” for the courts.
Thus the county has gotten off the hook for a huge responsibility and potential huge costs.
The scope of those responsibilities and costs has recently become clear.
Stout said that he has proposed to the State of California Administrative Office of the Courts to buy a large, modular court building that would be placed next to the county jail in Independence. The modular facility would contain two full courtrooms and office space for all court employees. Stout said he would like to keep the third-floor court room in the historic courthouse, for “overflow” cases and ceremonial uses. The Inyo County Superior Court has kept from the state the money in a court construction fund that could be used to buy and install the modular court building, he said.
The problem with the state taking over construction or remodeling of court facilities is that the court system doesn’t have a dedicated source of construction funds, Stout said. That’s why if the cost of the proposed Independence building comes in higher than anticipated, the courts might have to get some help from the county for the project. Currently, penalty assessments paid by those convicted of crimes keep the courts running and could supply money for court construction.
The state courts are aware there is a need for more space in Bishop. Stout said the single courtroom, fairly small jury room, cramped staff office space, and limited meeting rooms for attorneys and clients create a less than ideal setting for all involved in the court proceedings.
During the process of figuring out which court facilities need extra funding or extra space, the Bishop Superior Court was ranked 64 out of 250 court projects across the state, Stout said. But, again, there isn’t any money attached to the ranking, so it might take some creative thinking to get more court space while not disrupting the county’s and City of Bishop’s operations in the building.
Stout noted that one possibility would be, sometime in future, moving the city council chambers and meeting room into the large auditorium, then converting the current council chambers into a court room. The current jury room is adjacent to the council chambers, and the council chambers resemble a court room to many. “With a minimal amount of money it could be converted to a court room,” Stout said.
Stout said having two judges working in two courtrooms on the same day could make it easier to schedule lawyers, witnesses and law enforcement and generally improve the court’s efficiency.
Stout stressed that all the talk about a modular courthouse in Independence and remodeling space in Bishop was just talk at this point. If the local court construction fund and the state court system can’t come up with the money to buy or improve court facilities in either town, there won’t be any other option than to “maintain the status quo.”
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 14 November 2007 )
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