inyo_courthouseInyo Superior Court issued a press release Friday night which basically said that the Administrative Office of the Courts in Sacramento would make the decision on where Inyo’s new court building will go. The press release contained no information on Judge Lamb and Judge Stout’s recommendations.

An AOC spokesperson told us that the judges would give the AOC their opinion at some point. The AOC further will label the issue of court building location in Inyo as “controversial” when they give their recommendation to the director of the AOC. Teresa Ruano, spokesperson for the AOC, said the director would review the issue to see if it is “worthy of review by the Judicial Counsel.”

In their press release, Judges Lamb and Stout said that they had gained a “deeper understanding of the public interest in and the diversity of views about this issue.” Then they said that after the public process ended, the AOC told them that they would conduct a comprehensive review of the options for location of the new courthouse in Inyo. In fact, the AOC will apparently take over the whole issue, separate from local views.

The judges said the AOC will review both principal location options, presumably Independence or Bishop, based primarily on its own independent review of court facility needs in Inyo. The AOC will make a recommendation to their director with a further recommendation that because of the range of views it should be considered a controversial site. That label means the decision could go all the way to the Judicial Council. If this happens, the AOC will issue a draft recommendation for formal public comment by Inyo residents. The AOC says the process is expected to take the next six months.

Citizens can ask questions and make comments to the AOC through email or regular mail. The email address is [email protected]. Put Inyo in the subject line. Or send comments to the Office of Court Construction and Management
Judicial Council of California – Administrative Office of the Courts, 455 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102-3688. Refer to Inyo.

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