FINAL 2021 Annual Report

ABOUT SBSC

As one of 58 trial courts in California, San Bernardino Superior Court (SBSC) serves the largest geographic 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, the court serves a population of 2,035,210. The court provides access in 13 court facilities throughout the county’s 20,105 square miles. The county’s demographics represent some unique characteristics according to the U.S. Census, including 14.3% below the federal poverty line, 26% percent of school-aged children, and 54.4% of Hispanic ethnicity. The American Community Survey published by the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that in 2015-2019 nearly 700,000 San Bernardino County residents were non-English speaking, with the majority represented between the ages of 18-64. San Bernardino’s 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 sometimes a jury, hears 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.

4

ANNUAL REPORT 2021