San Diego courts change hours due to budget cuts

SAN DIEGO (CNS) – Starting Friday, all San Diego Superior Court business
offices will close at noon on Fridays.

The noon closure is the first in a series of service cuts undertaken to
meet historic funding reductions placed on the court by the state Legislature,
court officials said.

While courtrooms will be open and operating until the end of the
business day, all clerks' business offices located at all San Diego Superior
Court facilities will be closed to the public on Friday afternoons.

Emergency court matters such as temporary restraining orders will
continue to be handled until the end of the business day on Fridays.

According to officials, the noon closures are designed to give the
court's reduced staff time to catch up on backlogs and process court filings.

While the business counters will be closed to the public at noon on
Friday, the public can still handle many court matters, such as paying a
traffic fine or getting a traffic court extension, via the court's website:
http://www.sdcourt.ca.gov.

Also this week, North County Probate operations closed and all matters
were consolidated with, and relocated to, the Central Division Probate Court.
In addition, one Juvenile Dependency courtroom in North County has closed.

The Ramona court facility is now closed, and all case matters have been
relocated to the East County Division Courthouse on Main Street in El Cajon.
Additionally, six criminal courtrooms and one civil courtroom at the downtown
courthouse are now shuttered.

Officials said the actions are being taken due to unprecedented and
ongoing state budget cuts enacted in fiscal years 2012/13 and 2013/14. The cuts
are in addition to reductions imposed during the preceding four fiscal years.

The court now confronts the most significant reduction of services in
its history, according to officials.