2018 State of the Court

STATE OF THE COURT REPORT | 2018 EDITION

ABOUT SBCSC

The California court system is the largest in the nation, with approximately 2,000 judicial officers and more than 6 million cases―serving over 39 million people. Prior to June 1998, California trial courts consisted of superior and municipal courts, each with its own jurisdiction and fixed number of judges. California voters approved a constitutional amendment permitting judges in each county to unify their superior and municipal courts into one single superior court for each county. SBCSC is one of 58 trial courts in California serving the largest county in the contiguous United States―reaching south of the San Bernardino Mountains, to the Nevada border and the Colorado River. Larger than the state of Massachusetts and Vermont combined, San Bernardino County is 12% of California’s geographic area. If you move San Bernardino County to the Bay Area, it covers all, or part of, twenty-three counties. Encompassing 24 cities and 104 unincorporated communities, SBCSC serves a population of 2,035,210. SBCSC encompasses 13 court facilities throughout the county’s 20,105 square miles. SBCSC judicial officers hear every case type under state law including civil, probate, mental health, family, juvenile dependency and delinquency, criminal, and traffic. A judge and jury sometimes hear witness testimony and other evidence and decide cases by applying the relevant law to the relevant facts. Cases range from disputes between landlords and tenants to corporate lawsuits; guardianships to court-ordered treatment in a psychiatric hospital; and simple traffic infractions to homicide.

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