533650_courthouse_skywalkDue to budget cuts, several Los Angeles Supreme Courthouses are closing entirely. Several more will work for lesser hours or offer limited services. This leaves a lot of people unsure about where to go in case a need arises to attend courts for a variety of reasons. But people in need of court services will still be able to avail all such services. Its just that they’ll simply need to go to a different location.

In this post, we’ll discuss a few aspects of the courts closing in Los Angeles county.

Why Courts are Closing

The state of California has had a budget crisis for years now. Seventy million dollars in funding had been cut from the Los Angeles County Supreme Court system as of the last fiscal year, but another $30 million in cuts had to be made this year. The reduction was largely made through cuts in staffing, which has meant that 56 courtrooms have had to close because of a lack of personnel.

No cases will be dismissed because of court closures or budget cuts. However, cases will be moved from courthouses that are closing and may be moved from those that are doing away with some of their services. Depending on the courthouse in question, felony, misdemeanor, infraction and/or civil cases may be moved.

Which Courts are Closing

Eight courthouses in Los Angeles county have closed completely. They are:

  1. Huntington Park

  2. Kenyon Juvenile

  3. Malibu

  4. Pomona North

  5. San Pedro

  6. West L.A.

  7. Whittier

Services at other courthouses are either being removed or specialized. These are some of the changes to the courthouses that remain open:

  • Alhambra Courthouse: No longer taking traffic and citation cases

  • Central Arraignment Court house: No longer taking misdemeanor or infraction cases

  • Beverly Hills Courthouse: No longer taking felony or misdemeanor cases

  • Catalina Island Courthouse: No longer taking felony or misdemeanor cases.

    • The Catalina Island courthouse will open for very few hours and their services will also be very limited.

    • It will be open only every other Friday, starting June 14, 2013.

    • The courthouse will see only citation and infraction cases, including traffic tickets, for residents of Catalina Island.

Where to Go Instead

Cases from each courthouse are being moved to another in the county. If you have a traffic case in any of the following courthouses, they are being redirected.

Whittier Courthouse

  1. Traffic citations made by the Whittier Police Department will be moved to the Bellflower courthouse, effective June 3rd.

  2. Traffic citations made by any other agency will be moved to the Downey courthouse, effective June 3rd.

Alhambra Courthouse

Traffic citation cases will be moved to the Pasadena courthouse, effective May 13th.

Central Arraignment Court house

Traffic cases will be moved to the Metropolitan courthouse, effective June 3rd.

Pomona North Court house

  1. Red light camera ticket cases from the city of Walnut will be moved to the El Monte courthouse, effective June 3rd.

  2. Traffic cases filed by the California Highway Patrol will be moved to the El Monte courthouse, effective June 3rd.

East Los Angeles Courthouse

Traffic cases will be moved to the Metropolitan courthouse, effective May 13th.

Huntington Park Courthouse

Traffic cases will be moved to the Compton courthouse, effective June 3rd.

Malibu Courthouse

Traffic cases will be moved to the Santa Monica courthouse, effective June 3rd.

San Pedro Courthouse

Traffic cases will be moved to the Long Beach courthouse, effective June 3rd.

West Los Angeles Courthouse

Traffic cases will be moved to the Beverly Hills courthouse, effective June 3rd.

Beverly Hills Courthouse

  1. Traffic cases at the Beverly Hills Courthouse will continue as scheduled. Misdemeanor and felony cases are being relocated from this courthouse, but traffic cases will continue to be seen.

  2. Traffic cases from the closing West Los Angeles courthouse will also be seen at the Beverly Hills courthouse.

Now that you know which courts are closing and which court to report to in case the one in your area has been closed, it will save you a lot of time and energy in running from one court to another.

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Scott Desind

Scott Desind | Traffic Ticket Attorneys The Traffic Ticket Attorneys, Desind and Klijian, have over 25 years of experience fighting traffic tickets. Our attorneys are well respected and known for their experience in fighting traffic tickets, specialized knowledge of the law and procedures and results by the court personnel, officers, deputies, competitors and clients.