The courthouse also lacks attorney-client meeting rooms, so attorneys confer with clients, victims, and witnesses in public waiting areas. The building lacks holding cells and secure, separate hallways for movement of in-custody defendants. The court occupies a little over 7,000 square feet in the building, while a state study that applied current design standards indicated a need for nearly four times that amount of space.įor example, there is no jury assembly room, so jurors must often stand or utilize limited seating in the public halls until a courtroom is available. The Court’s space in the building is overcrowded and does not meet modern operational and security requirements, and the space cannot be renovated or expanded.
The current building, constructed in 1921, is a significant town landmark, but no longer functions well as the main courthouse for the Superior Court. The new courthouse will be owned by the judicial branch. Among other responsibilities, the council-through its Capital Program office-is responsible for planning, acquisition, design, renovation, and construction of court facilities.
#Quincy ca county trial#
The Judicial Council is the policymaking body for the California court system, including the trial courts, known as “Superior Courts,” based in each county. Who is the Judicial Council, and why are they managing this project? Under the transfer agreement executed between Plumas County and the Judicial Council, the County holds title to the Quincy Courthouse, and the Judicial Council has responsibility for the space occupied by the Court. The Trial Court Facilities Act of 2002 made the state responsible for court facilities statewide. The Superior Court occupies about a quarter of the building. The building is owned by the County of Plumas, and the County occupies a majority of the space. Funding of future phases of this project depends in part on what happens to court construction funds in future fiscal years. Since 2009, $1.5 billion in court construction funds have been borrowed, swept to the General Fund, or redirected to court operations As a result, this project, as with other courthouse projects statewide, has been subjected to several delays, and has been required by the Judicial Council to undergo reductions to its construction budget, overseen by a statewide oversight committee of justices, judges, and public building experts. What is the impact of the state’s current budget crisis on this project? Once the new courthouse is completed, the court will vacate its space in the county-owned historic courthouse.īecause of significant, ongoing cuts to the judicial branch budget, this project is indefinitely delayed, based on the Judicial Council's Octodecision. The proposed project also includes 135 parking spaces for staff, visitors, and jurors.Ī site has not been selected for the new courthouse.
The proposed project would also give the court much-needed space to provide basic services currently unavailable to court users, including a self-help center adequately sized public-service counters, a jury assembly room, attorney-client meeting rooms, and a children's waiting room. Security improvements would include a secure public lobby, separate hallways for the public, staff, and in-custody defendants, in-custody holding, and secured parking for judges. The proposed new Quincy Courthouse would replace this facility with a modern, secure, adequately sized courthouse. The building lacks smoke detectors and sprinklers and is not compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act. The courthouse lacks attorney-client meeting rooms, so attorneys confer with clients, victims, and witnesses in public waiting areas. There is no jury assembly room, so juries assemble in one of the three courtrooms.
The courthouse, built in 1920, is overcrowded and does not meet modern operational and security requirements, and court space cannot be renovated or expanded.
The County owns the building, and County offices occupy the rest of the space. The court occupies a little over a quarter of this four-story historic building that dominates the town's Main Street. The Superior Court of Plumas County operates several facilities, with its main location the Quincy Courthouse.
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