NOTICE OF CHANGE OF SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF INYO TELEPHONE AND COUNTER/OFFICE HOURS
EFFECTIVE OCTOBER 17, 2013 (PRESS RELEASE)
Due to severe, permanent budget reductions and a reduced work force, the Superior Court of California, County of Inyo will decrease available hours of public counter/in-person access as well hours for public phone calls. Through attrition, the court clerks’ office staff will be reduced by 40% as of December 2013, with no replacement staff being hired due to fiscal constraints. However, the number of filings that the court has received has remained constant. These permanent service reductions, described are necessary for the Court to continue to provide continued and effective court operations amidst the fiscal crisis that was imposed upon the Judicial Branch. The adjustment of office and telephone hours will allow staff to eliminate backlog that has accrued in multiple areas of the court and give necessary time to process paperwork. Therefore, we regret to inform the public that access to the Superior Court of California, County of Inyo will be limited as follows as of October 17, 2013:
TRAFFIC AND PHONE CALLS. Traffic calls will be answered in the afternoon only, between the hours of 1-4 pm. A message will greet court users who call in at alternate times directing them as to when to call back, or how to access the Court via email. Court users will be alerted, in the Court’s call tree, that these reduced telephone hours are due to staffing reductions and court service operational limitations.
COUNTERS. Counters/public will be served from 8:30-12 and 1-4, with the following exceptions:
The counters/clerk offices will be locked from 8-8:30 AM, 12-1 PM, and 4-5 PM when clerks are unavailable. Appropriate signage will be visible to the public.
A document and payment drop box will be provided at all locations to receive documents during the hours that the court is closed to the public. All drop boxes will be checked throughout the day and at 8 AM and 4 PM each court business day. Documents and payments will be received and filed and entered the day they are dropped. However, any document or payment dropped after 4 pm will be received and filed or applied to the account the following court business day.
Department 4 (Bishop) will close their counter from 12 noon to the close of business each and every FRIDAY.
Department 1 and Department 3 (Independence) will close their counters from noon to the close of business each and every WEDNESDAY.
Payments and document processing will be delayed. Payments, traffic school, and citations may take up to 10 business days (from the date received by the citing agency) to enter. Courtesy notices, the court’s phone tree, and the court’s website will reflect an idea of how long processing is taking, which is a frequent question of the public.
Public comments regarding the above action are welcome and may be submitted by mail, fax, or e-mail to:
Tammy L. Grimm, Court Executive Officer
Superior Court of California, County of Inyo
301 W. Line Street
Bishop, CA 93514
HYPERLINK “mailto:[email protected]”
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I have a great idea…
let’s build a new bigger courthouse
Govt gone wild
When will the voters ever learn? The AOC (Administrative Office of the Courts) is a huge bureaucracy that has squandered millions of dollars and is basicially bankrupt. We all voted in court unification back in 1998 with Prop 220 paving the way for the AOC. Before that time California’s trial courts were made up of numerous lower courts within every county. From 1950 to 1994, the trial courts were made up of superior courts, municipal courts, and justice courts, each with its own staff and operational systems.And our local courts were not bankrupt! Good government does not always equate with “efficiency” and “uniformity” and an “Enron” pyramid model. Inyo is as different from many California counties as night is from day. Good Government means checks and balances and local control. Government is not a business. Abdicate your local control and this is the result.
This overlooks a big detail. Until 2002 county governments owned the courthouses of the Superior courts and lower courts and were responsible for their upkeep. In most cases counties chose to neglect court house maintenance and the result was dilapidated court houses.The process was begun with the Trial Court Funding Act of 1997 and not completed until 2009. “Local control” in this case meant simply ignoring responsibilities.
The old Justice Courts were ruled unconstitutional because they were presided over by individuals who were not attorneys and not certified by the state bar. A unanimous 1974 Supreme Court decision ruled this was a violation of due process.
“Government is not a business.”
If it was they’d have to operate in black ink like the rest of us.
Pensions for everyone!
There is no “they”. We are responsible for the government. When we allow a huge bureaucracy to be created that is outside the normal checks and balances of our representative democracy, then we have created a bloated out of control monster. The Founding Fathers crafted a system of government that was not “efficient” in order to prevent tyranny.
Right on Anachronism. They are also very powerful and exempt from local planning. Look at the downtown Los Angeles style building they built in Mammoth despite the opposition of the entire community.
State Budget Cuts? 40% reduction in staff? Isn’t this court proposing raises for it’s employees?
We are still fighting the trickle down theorist. Commonsense should lead the way some day.