The Bakersfield Californian

Judges call meetings to consider options for new eastern Kern courthouse

BY CLAUDIA ELLIOTT

More than a year after Kern County Superior Court asked the state’s Court Facilities Advisory Committee of the Judicial Council of California to abandon plans for a new courthouse in Ridgecrest in favor of a revised plan for a new East County Courthouse project to be located in the Mojave or Tehachapi area, court officials have scheduled three informational meetings to seek input from the public and what it calls “justice partners” — the county’s sheriff, district attorney, public defender and probation department.

Previously, new courthouses for both Ridgecrest and Mojave were on the

drawing board and included in the state’s five-year capital outlay plan.

The Court Facilities Advisory Committee approved the change requested by Judge Colette M. Humphrey in June 2022, and its latest five-year capital outlay plan — included as part of the Governor’s Budget for 202324 — lists the four-courtroom New East County Courthouse project with funds budgeted for acquisition and study in 2023-24, design in 2025-26 and construction in 2026-2027.

But according to a letter Humphrey wrote to the Court Facilities Advisory Committee in January 2022, the court’s plan is to continue the operation of its existing Ridgecrest Division B Courthouse and vacate the existing Ridgecrest Main Courthouse when the New East County Courthouse project is complete.

In three meetings set for Thursday and Friday, the court will provide more information about options it is considering and seek public input. Meetings will be held in Bakersfield, Ridgecrest and Mojave.

REASONS FOR CHANGE

In her January 2022 letter to the Court Facilities Advisory Committee, Humphrey said that “owing to recent staffing difficulties in the Ridgecrest and Mojave areas, we have had to rethink how best to provide future service to our east county communities.”

She said the court was “mindful of limited state resources for courthouse construction” and wanted to align future project planning with operational needs by withdrawing the new Ridgecrest courthouse from funding consideration and combining the new courthouses at Ridgecrest and Mojave into one project.

She said she believed that the new project would be placed in the “immediate need” priority group as both the previously approved projects were in that group.

Noting staffing difficulties, Humphrey said the state-owned Ridgecrest Division B Courthouse (one courtroom) would continue to serve approximately 32,000 residents of the city of Ridgecrest and surrounding areas of China Lake Acres, Inyokern, Randsburg and Johannesburg.

The court would consolidate operations from four county-owned facilities — the Ridgecrest Main Courthouse (one courtroom) and Mojave court facilities (three courtrooms) — into the New East County Courthouse, which the judge said would be “located preferably in the Tehachapi area.”

At the time Humphrey made the request, she was the presiding judge of Kern County Superior Court. J. Eric Bradshaw became the presiding judge on Jan. 6, 2023.

Her request was considered at the June 7, 2022, meeting of the Court Facilities Advisory Committee. According to minutes, Randy Allenbaugh, deputy court executive officer, Superior Court of Kern County, was present at the meeting.

EARLIER REACTION

Officials in eastern Kern County were aware of Humphrey’s thoughts on changing plans for the new courthouses as early as October 2021 — but not necessarily aware that she made the proposal official in January 2022 or that it was accepted by the Court Facilities Advisory Committee in June 2022.

In communications with Ridgecrest officials in October 2021, Humphrey suggested that staffing the courthouse might be easier if it were located closer to Tehachapi.

John Watkins, publisher of the Ridgecrest Daily Independent, heard about the proposal at that time and reported that Ridgecrest City Manager Ron Strand contacted court officials right away, asking why they would consider the closure of the Ridgecrest court facility without any input from the community.

In a follow-up article, Watkins reported that the closure of the Ridgecrest court was off the table — although the court continues to have concerns about staffing that courthouse.

He learned that in an email to Strand, Presiding Judge Colette Humphrey wrote: “We are still talking about asking to build the second East Kern Courthouse closer to the Tehachapi area, rather than Mojave. This would allow us to pull from Bakersfield for employees. It also would allow us to handle Ridgecrest felony jury trials that are currently sent to Bakersfield for trial.”

In January 2022, Humphrey told Tehachapi News that a review of the possible relocation of the courthouse is still in play.

“We are reviewing the numbers, including populations of the various communities in East Kern, as well as our ability to staff the courthouse, in order to determine whether to request a relocation of the courthouse to a more populous location while still providing services to all the citizens in East Kern,” she said.

At the time, Tehachapi City Manager Greg Garrett and Kern County District 2 Supervisor Zack Scrivner said they were not in favor of moving the court from Mojave to Tehachapi. A spokesperson for the district attorney’s office said the DA was aware of the proposal but declined further comment in February 2022.

THE NUMBERS

Humphrey included population data and other information in her rationale for requesting the change — including population, judicial caseload and proximity to jail facilities.

In her January 22, 2022, letter, she said all justice partners had been notified about the concept of a New East County Courthouse in the Tehachapi or Mojave areas.

“All are supportive except for the concerns of the District Attorney to maintain presence of our operations of the Ridgecrest Division B Courthouse. All other justice partners are very supportive in combining both courts into a new East County Courthouse,” Humphrey wrote.

She noted that the Ridgecrest Division B Courthouse would serve about 32,000 people while the New East County Courthouse would serve 30,730 people in the city of Tehachapi and surrounding areas, including Keene and another 44,178 in Mojave, Boron, Rosamond, California City, Edwards Air Force Base and North Edwards — a total of 74,907.

The judge said the change has the potential to save about $32.7 million — $30.4 million in capital costs and $2.3 million in operational and deferred maintenance costs.

Humphrey noted that since the jail facility closed in Ridgecrest — in 2016 — inmates needing to appear in court have been transported from the Lerdo PreTrial Facility located north of Bakersfield, approximately a 2.5 hours drive. The drive from the current Mojave courthouse is about 1.5 hours.

“It should be noted that the Kern County Sheriff’s Department must send a separate bus for each court, Ridgecrest and Mojave, in order to transport the in-custody inmates to each location in a reasonable amount of time,” she said. “Each bus has a minimum of two KCSO deputies that end up doubling in the courts as deputies and/or bailiffs. On average, each transport brings four to 10 in-custodies to court, three times per week.”

With a central courthouse in the Tehachapi area, she added, the KCSO would be able to transport inmates to one location rather than providing transport to two separate locations — and Tehachapi is closer to the Lerdo Pre-Trial Facility.

COURT OPTIONS

In a meeting announcement on May 25, the court noted it is considering three options:

■ Keep the New East County Courthouse project in the proposed FY 202425 five-year state capital outlay plan (four-courtroom courthouse in the Mojave/ Tehachapi area); continue Ridgecrest services in Ridgecrest Division B Courthouse.

■ Request change of the current plan — re-scope/ replace the proposed New East County Courthouse (4 courtrooms) in the proposed FY 2024-25 five-year capital outlay plan with a 3-courtroom facility in Mojave-Tehachapi area, and leave two existing courtrooms (Div. A & B) in operation in Ridgecrest. This alternative would be presented to the California Facilities Advisory Committee in June 2023.

■ Request removal of New East County Courthouse from funding consideration to future fiscal year.

The court has asked for justice partner and public input to be in writing.

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2023-05-31T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-05-31T07:00:00.0000000Z

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