Superior Courts of California - History

History

The concept of having a Superior Court of general jurisdiction in each of California's counties dates back to the ratification of the second California Constitution in 1879. Previously, the California Judiciary Act of 1851 had created multi-county District Courts of general jurisdiction which supervised County Courts and Justice of the Peace Courts of limited jurisdiction.

Notably, the superior courts did not always enjoy the unified jurisdiction that they possess now. At one point in the early 20th century, California had as many as six types of inferior courts of limited jurisdiction under the superior courts. The Municipal and Justice Courts Act of 1949 reduced the number of inferior courts to two: municipal courts and "justice of the peace" courts.

Starting in the late 1970s, California began to slowly phase out the use of justice courts (in which non-lawyers were often allowed by statute to preside as judges) after a landmark 1974 decision in which the Supreme Court of California unanimously held that it was a violation of due process to allow a non-lawyer to preside over a criminal trial which could result in incarceration of the defendant.

In 1998, Proposition 220 was approved by the state's voters; it amended the state Constitution to authorize judges in each county to decide whether or not to retain municipal or justice courts. By 2001, every California county had consolidated its municipal and justice courts into the superior courts. Thus, at present, the superior courts are actually not "superior" to any inferior courts within the judicial branch. They are still superior to certain types of administrative hearings within the executive branch; dissatisfied litigants can appeal to superior courts through administrative mandamus.

Many of California's larger superior courts have specialized divisions for different types of cases like criminal, civil, traffic, small claims, probate, family, juvenile, and complex litigation, but these divisions are simply administrative assignments that can be rearranged at the discretion of each superior court's presiding judge in response to changing caseloads (that is, regardless of whether the division is colloquially called "traffic court" or "family court," all orders are issued by judges of the superior court). In contrast, inferior courts were creatures of statute and thus were slightly more difficult to rearrange.

Another peculiarity of California law is that traditionally, the superior courts did not own their own buildings, and the state was not required to provide them with buildings, even though the superior courts were part of the judicial branch of the state government. Rather, county governments were supposed to provide buildings and security for the superior courts out of their own local budgets.

At the same time, courthouse construction and maintenance were often overlooked among the numerous mandatory responsibilities placed upon counties by California law. After several decades of complaints about dilapidated courthouses, the California Legislature passed the Trial Court Funding Act of 1997 and then the Trial Court Facilities Act of 2002 to begin the process of transferring courthouses from county to state ownership. The first transfer, in Riverside County, took place in October 2004. On December 29, 2009, the Administrative Office of the Courts announced that the process of transferring 532 facilities to state control was complete with the transfer of the Glenn County Superior Courthouse.