Judges Ponder Legal Steps to Obtain Operating Funds

SANTA ANA — Trial court administrators and judges said at Tuesday’s Orange County Board of Supervisors meeting that they may attempt to legally force the county to provide them with additional operating funds if they cannot reach some type of agreement with county officials.

Court administrators said the county has provided them with only a portion of the money needed to operate through the end of the fiscal year, which ends June 30. County officials expressed hope that the state will eventually meet the $41-million shortfall, as it did last year.

If the conflict cannot be resolved soon, the courts plan to bring the matter before the state’s Judicial Council. Depending on the council’s decision, the trial courts could attempt to order the county to provide additional funding, possibly setting off a constitutional confrontation.

The move comes as court officials are battling with County Chief Executive Officer Jan Mittermeier over a variety of courthouse improvement projects they want the county to fund, including an airport-style security system and expanded jury assembly room at the Central Courthouse.

On Tuesday, the board decided not to take action on most of the requests and directed Mittermeier to work with court officials to reduce the costs of some projects. Mittermeier said the county lacks the money to fund all the requests.

Several supervisors said the court projects had merit and could receive funding once the state determines its financial contribution to the courts next year.