The Riverside County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to pass a motion geared at finding solutions for a staggering caseload and other challenges confronting the county’s criminal justice system.
The motion passed in a unanimous vote at the meeting after being submitted by supervisors Kevin Jeffries and Karen Spiegel. According to Spiegel, while the placement of judicial positions does not fall under the county’s jurisdiction, there is a significant impact on county residents and the lack of funding for judges “is a growing concern”.
As of Jan. 17, a total of 1,371 criminal court cases have been dismissed under the weight of an arduous caseload, which a November case study put in perspective by determining the county has 22 fewer judges than needed.
Tuesday's motion will see that the Executive Office works with the Superior Court, the District Attorney’s Office, the Law Offices of the Public Defender, the Probation Department, the Sheriff’s Department and the Indigent Criminal Defense Contractors to identify challenges and report back to the Board of Supervisors in 45 days with their findings and “actionable recommendations”.
Additionally, a letter will be sent to California Supreme Court Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero requesting a local visit, as decided at the meeting. Finally, the board also will sponsor Senate Bill 75, authored by Senator Richard Roth (D-Riverside), with the goal of allocating additional judges to underserved regions across the state.
"Regardless, if we have direct control or not, this board needs to engage on issues and find solutions. We've been talking about it and talking about it– now we have to do something about it," Spiegel said.
As reported earlier this month, the Association of Riverside County Chiefs of Police and Sheriff (ARCCOPS) submitted a statement calling on Riverside County Superior Court judges to immediately stop the mass dismissal of cases which has been ongoing since October. The ARCCOPS called on Riverside County Courts to embrace “creative solutions” and urged the state to do more to alleviate the backlog of cases.
According to background information submitted by Jeffries and Spiegel, the county’s criminal system is severely overburdened. Riverside County's population has more than doubled since 1990, with more people moving here than to any other county in the state between 2010 and 2020. During this period of rapid growth, the judicial system has not kept pace.
A study entitled "The Need for New Judgeships in the Superior Courts" reports Riverside County has 22 fewer judges than needed. The county’s struggling court system has resulted in a total of 1,317 case dismissals as of Jan. 17. At least 97 of dismissed cases are felony cases that include charges of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, sex crimes, child abuse and domestic violence.