SLO County Superior Court prepares for new courthouse

February 7, 2023

By CCN Contributor Stew Jenkins

Presiding Superior Court Judge Craig B. van Rooyen announced at last month’s San Luis Obispo County Bar Association luncheon that the court is preparing to construct a new county courthouse.

A team of architects was touring six different candidate sites close to downtown San Luis Obispo to determine with the court where to build and what design would best serve the court and the public, according to court administrator Michael Powell.

After years of being constrained to hold hearings on Zoom, Judge van Rooyen catalogued the focus of the court to restore access and to allow the public to participate in and attend hearings and trials. A huge backlog of cases, he reported, are now being worked through by a court that has lost five judges in just over a year.

He pointed to three vacancies on the court that must be filled either by voters at the next election or by a governor’s appointment. Retired judges LaBarbara, Duffy, Umhofer and Lane are regularly sitting in to hold hearings and trials, along with visiting judges on special assignment, according to Judge van Rooyen.

In one of the more inspiring speeches that lawyers in the local Bar Association have heard a presiding judge give in some years, van Rooyen focused on integrity, public access, and requirements to use technology to improve public access to the courts; cautioning against technology becoming a barrier to the public’s access and participation.

Judge van Rooyen also focused on the efforts of judges, defense attorneys, the District Attorney, and social services to focus on rehabilitation calendars in six different courts every Friday. He outlined the success restoring humanity and productivity in drug, alcohol, mental health, and family reunification calendars achieved in those six different Friday court programs.

Court administrator Michael Powell announced that a new public portal would soon permit the public, as well as lawyers, to access pleadings and documents filed in civil cases. Criminal case dockets, but not pleadings, will also be available to the public at that electronic portal, he said.

Powell also introduced the court’s human resources director, indicating that because of a state-wide shortage of certified court reporters, there are three very well-paid positions available right now with the San Luis Obispo County Superior Court. Applications were encouraged.

The bar luncheon, held at the Madonna Inn, was the first large Bar Association gathering in several years. Newly installed Bar Association President Greg Gillette announced new initiatives to bring lawyers out not just to build public understanding for Law Day, locally scheduled for May 4, but to field triathlete teams to restore collegiality following years of pandemic enforced Zoom held court hearings and delayed trials.

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