Barstow, Big Bear, Needles & Joshua Tree Courts Likely to Still Suffer after Trial Court Funding Act's Latest Workgroup Report

 Trial Court Funding Act,'s workgroup's 250-page report pointed out that equality in trial court funding is still "in need of improvement," opening the door for a new plan to be considered directing how money is divvied up by the courts. "The workgroup finds that funding has not been allocated based on workload fluctuations or in a manner designed to promote equal access to the courts statewide, implementation of statewide policies, or implementation of efficiencies and cost-saving measures to support access to justice," the report said. The Judicial Council should "adopt a new methodology for allocating funding appropriated for support of trial court operations, to be implemented" in July, the group said.
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A committee, led by Sacramento County Superior Court Presiding Judge Laurie Earl, has a deadline to submit a proposal to the Judicial Council [at its meeting in San Francisco on April 25 to 26]. It is hoped that the Inland Empire courts in San Bernardino and Riverside are expected to be the biggest winner in any funding shift, but with that said. workload, not historical factors will be a major driver, so smaller county areas like Barstow, Joshua Tree, the Mountain areas & Needles and are likely to still suffer.
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