inyo_courthouse.jpgNOTICE 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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