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51-675: The Superior Court of California, County of San Joaquin , also known as the San Joaquin County Superior Court or San Joaquin Superior Court , is the California superior court with jurisdiction over San Joaquin County, California , United States. San Joaquin County was one of the original counties formed when California assumed statehood in 1850. Stockton was named the county seat. George G. Belt assumed his duties as "judge of

102-458: A catalyst for reform of trial court funding because it placed California counties into such severe financial distress that they could no longer bear the burden of such a partially-funded mandate . The paradox of state judicial officers working in county-operated organizations culminated in a 1996 case in which the Supreme Court of California upheld the constitutionality of a statute under which

153-709: A limit of two terms, if served after November 6, 1990. Governors take the following oath: I (Governor) do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California, that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion and that I will well and faithfully discharge

204-411: A non-lawyer judge. Another change was that all new justice court judges after that point in time had to be attorneys. The next major attempt at trial court reform and unification started in 1992 when state senator Bill Lockyer introduced Senate Constitutional Amendment 3, which would have unified the superior, municipal and justice courts in each county into a single "district court". In response,

255-571: A non-lawyer to preside over a criminal trial which could result in incarceration of the defendant. This was a "bombshell" decision because at the time, non-lawyer judges were presiding over 127 justice courts. In response, the Judicial Council of California arranged for the immediate enactment of legislation to upgrade 22 attorneys already sitting as justice court judges from part-time to full-time service and allow them to " ride circuit " and hear such trials in any justice court then presided over by

306-481: A part-time basis, either by laymen who also operated outside businesses or attorneys in private practice. Chief Justice Phil S. Gibson remarked that "there are very few lawyers who can correctly name all the types of trial courts in the state, much less give the sources and extent of their jurisdiction." To fix this colossal mess, the judicial council proposed and the legislature enacted the Court Act of 1949 to reduce

357-504: A single part-time commissioner. To be eligible to become a superior court judge in California, one must have been a member of the State Bar of California for at least ten years. One quirk of California law is that when a party petitions the appellate courts for a writ of mandate (California's version of mandamus ), the case name becomes [petitioner name] v. Superior Court (that is,

408-483: A state. The current governor of California is Democrat Gavin Newsom , who was inaugurated on January 7, 2019. A candidate for governor must be a U.S. citizen and a registered voter within the state, must not have been convicted of a felony involving bribery, embezzlement, or extortion, and must not have served two terms since November 6, 1990. Governors are elected by popular ballot and serve terms of four years, with

459-523: Is also known as the Court Wing, while the northern wing is the Administration Wing. The vacant square opposite the courthouse, named Hunter Square, was landscaped at this time with parking, a fountain, and a water feature. The third courthouse was designed by the local Stockton firm of Mortenson & Hollstein and the landscape architect was Donald Crump. The Goddess of Justice statue which stood atop

510-614: Is also the president of the California State Senate. The official residence of the California governor is the California Governor's Mansion , in Sacramento. The mansion has served as the residence of 14 governors, while others have declined to reside in the mansion, preferring to arrange for private residential arrangements. It is also one of the official workplaces for the governor. The governor's primary official workplace

561-452: Is separately elected during the same election, not jointly as the running mate of the gubernatorial candidate. As such, California had governors and lieutenant governors of different parties for nearly 27 of the 33 years between 1978 and 2011, whereas previously, this had only occurred in 1875, 1887, 1895 and 1916–1917 due to the resignation or death of an incumbent governor or lieutenant governor. This occasionally becomes significant, since

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612-553: Is that because the superior courts are now fully unified with all courts of inferior jurisdiction, the superior courts must hear relatively minor cases that previously would have been heard in such inferior courts, such as infractions , misdemeanors , "limited civil" actions (actions where the amount in controversy is below $ 35,000), and " small claims " actions. The superior courts have appellate divisions (superior court judges sitting as appellate judges) which were previously responsible for hearing appeals from inferior courts. Now,

663-667: Is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard . Established in the Constitution of California , the governor's responsibilities also include submitting the budget, ensuring that state laws are enforced, and making the annual State of the State address to the California State Legislature . The position was created in 1849, the year before California became

714-553: The California Law Revision Commission published a comprehensive study in January 1994 which carefully evaluated options for the proposed court's name such as "district", "superior", "county", "trial", "unified", and "circuit", and concluded that the preferable name was "superior court". The Commission acknowledged the name could be confusing due to the absence of any inferior courts after unification, but contended this

765-554: The Judicial Council of California . 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 original California Constitution of 1849 and the California Judiciary Act of 1851 had created multi-county district courts of general jurisdiction which supervised county courts and justice of

816-498: The California Constitution provides that all the powers of the governor fall to the lieutenant governor whenever the governor is not in the state of California, with the lieutenant governor sometimes signing or vetoing legislation or making political appointments whenever the governor leaves the state. In practice, there is a gentlemen's agreement for the lieutenant governor not to perform more than perfunctory duties while

867-471: The California Courts of Appeal is to make an order directing the Superior Court to enter an order in its records, while the real party in interest has standing to oppose the appellate application for a writ. Normally, there is "no appearance for respondent", but in certain rare circumstances, the Superior Court does have standing to oppose an application for a writ, and has actually done so. Another quirk

918-402: The Court Act to become fully effective, a constitutional amendment had to be submitted to the state electorate as Proposition 3, which was duly approved on November 7, 1950. Despite ongoing calls for further reform and trial court unification, California's trial court system remained quite complex for several more decades. In 1971, a legislative select committee found that the trial court system

969-519: The Court of Sessions was abolished in 1862, the role of County Judge was held by several others. A second courthouse was started on April 14, 1887, after bonds were issued for US$ 250,000 (equivalent to $ 8,480,000 in 2023). The second courthouse had a footprint of 56 ft × 126 ft (17 m × 38 m) and was topped by a dome 172 ft (52 m) high. It was designed by E.E. Myers and completed in 1890. By 1961, cracks had appeared in

1020-549: The Courts announced that the process of transferring 532 facilities to state control was complete with the transfer of the Glenn County Superior Courthouse. Number in parentheses represent cities/communities with multiple courthouses County seats are highlighted in bold . Governor of California The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California . The governor

1071-515: The appellate divisions hear appeals from decisions of other superior court judges (or commissioners, or judges pro tem ) who heard and decided such minor cases. Unlike appellate divisions in other states (such as the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division ), the appellate divisions of the superior courts are not considered to be separate courts. Like the vast majority of U.S. state trial courts, most superior court decisions involve

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1122-401: The awkward position of frequently ruling on lawsuits involving the very county governments responsible for maintaining their courthouses and providing their staff. Counties were allowed to collect trial court fees, fines, and forfeitures to help fund trial court operations, but those sources of funds were not sufficient. The enacting of Proposition 13 by the state electorate in 1978 became

1173-467: The ballot in California. The 2003 recall election began with a petition drive that forced Democratic governor Gray Davis into a recall election, which he lost. He was replaced by Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger . It was the first time that a California governor was voted out of office. In addition to the successful 2003 recall, current governor Gavin Newsom faced a recall election in 2021 , which he defeated. The lieutenant governor of California

1224-488: 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. Judges stationed at rural superior courts too small to set up specialized divisions must be generalists who can handle everything;

1275-553: The dome of the 1890 courthouse was preserved, restored in 1964, and placed next to the new courthouse. The current courthouse was completed in Summer of 2017 and occupied in August of that year. It has 310,443 sq ft (28,841.1 m) of floor space and 30 courtrooms and was designed by NBBJ. It was built on what was Hunter Square, an open space created by widening Hunter Street between Weber and Main streets. The fountain at Hunter Square

1326-578: The duties upon which I am about to enter. Governors take office on the first Monday after January 1 after their election. Two methods exist to remove a governor. The governor can be impeached for "misconduct in office" by the State Assembly and removed by a two-thirds vote of the State Senate . Petitions signed by California state voters equal to 12% of the last vote for the office of governor (with signatures from each of five counties equal to 1% of

1377-604: The first instance" in October 1849, succeeded by Benjamin Williams under the election of March 1850. The Court of Sessions held its first meeting on June 3, 1850, Judge Williams presiding with associate justices Harrison Amyx and O.C. Emory. The land for what is now Courthouse Square was deeded to the City of Stockton by C.M. Weber in 1851, and the cost of a new courthouse was to be shared equally between city and county. A tax of 1 ⁄ 4 %

1428-449: The governor is away from the state: this agreement was violated when Mike Curb was in office, as he signed several executive orders at odds with the Brown administration when Brown was out of the state. Court rulings have upheld the lieutenant governor's right to perform the duties and assume all of the prerogatives of governor while the governor is out of the state. The lieutenant governor

1479-581: The judge merely signing a proposed order drafted by one side or the other. Thus, superior court decisions are not normally reported either in reporters or legal databases. However, appellate divisions of the superior courts do sometimes certify opinions for publication. Such opinions are published in California Appellate Reports Supplement , which is included in the regular volumes of the California Appellate Reports ,

1530-474: The last vote for governor in the county) can launch a gubernatorial recall election . The voters can then vote on whether or not to recall the incumbent governor, and on the same ballot can vote for a potential replacement. If a majority of the voters in the election vote to recall the governor, then the person who gains a plurality of the votes in the replacement race will become governor. Only two governor recall attempts have ever gained enough signatures to make

1581-400: The loss of the 1890 courthouse in 2011: "It was beautiful. Whenever you destroy good architecture it's a bad thing. It destroys the ties between the new and the old." Some elements of the building were saved and moved, including the doors for the county board of supervisors public meeting room. The third courthouse was completed in 1964. It consists of two connected buildings; the southern wing

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1632-650: The more gradual reform process which ultimately prevailed. In 1994, the state electorate approved Proposition 191, which amended the state constitution to eliminate the remaining justice courts and force them to consolidate with the municipal courts. In 1998, the electorate approved Proposition 220, which amended the state constitution to authorize trial court judges in each county to decide whether or not to retain municipal courts. Within two months, by December 31, 1998, judges in 50 of California's 58 counties had voted for consolidation of municipal courts with superior courts. The last county to achieve trial court unification

1683-471: The number of types of inferior courts to two: municipal courts and justice of the peace courts, which were renamed "justice courts". This dropped the total number of courts in California to less than 400. To solve the problem of inferior courts which overlapped one another, all county boards of supervisors were required to divide their counties into judicial districts. Each district would be served by only one inferior court of limited jurisdiction underneath

1734-492: The official reporter of the Courts of Appeal. Proposition 220 of 1998 created the Appellate Division of the Superior Court, which replaced the previous Appellate Department but retained the same jurisdictional authority. Every California court may make local rules for its own government and the government of its officers as long as these local rules are not inconsistent with law or with the rules adopted and prescribed by

1785-473: The peace courts of limited jurisdiction. Notably, the superior courts did not always enjoy the unified jurisdiction that they possess now. The 1879 state constitution authorized the state legislature to establish inferior courts at its discretion in any city, town, or city and county, with powers, duties, and terms to be fixed by statute. By the mid-20th century, California had as many as six, seven, or eight types of inferior courts of limited jurisdiction under

1836-673: The six California courts of appeal , each with appellate jurisdiction over the superior courts within their districts, and the Supreme Court of California . As of 2007, the superior courts of California consisted of over 1,500 judges, and make up the largest part of California's judicial system, which is in turn one of the largest court systems in the United States . Superior court judges are elected by each county's voters to six-year terms. California attorneys are allowed to run against sitting superior court judges at their retention elections, and have occasionally succeeded in doing so. Vacancies in

1887-683: The state budget. Next came the Trial Court Employment Protection and Governance Act of 2000 to separate trial court employees from county governments, followed by the Trial Court Facilities Act of 2002 to transfer courthouses from the county governments to the state government. The first courthouse transfer, in Riverside County, took place in October 2004. On December 29, 2009, the Administrative Office of

1938-532: The state judicial education center provides a special training program for "Cow County Judges". Another peculiarity of California law is that traditionally, the superior courts did not own their own buildings or employ their own staff, and the state government was not required to provide them with such things. Even though the superior courts were clearly part of the judicial branch of the state government, they were actually operated by county governments who were expected to provide buildings, security, and staff for

1989-436: The structure and it was razed to make room for a third courthouse. Stockton had embarked on an ambitious plan of urban renewal, starting by "bulldoz[ing] West End blight and replac[ing] it with modern offices and residences". A time capsule that had been buried there in 1897 was opened on July 8, 1961, but the papers contained had been destroyed by humidity and the coins were of low value. Stockton architect Glen Mortensen lamented

2040-556: The structure of the state's inferior courts. The council's 1948 study found: "There are six separate and distinct types of inferior courts, totaling 767 in number, created and governed under varied constitutional, statutory, and charter provisions." The council found there was much "multiplicity and duplication" between the superior courts and the various types of inferior courts, resulting in "conflict and uncertainty in jurisdiction". Even worse, most inferior courts were not staffed by full-time professional judges; they were presided over on

2091-416: The superior court is the respondent on appeal), and the real opponent is then listed below those names as the " real party in interest ". This is why several U.S. Supreme Court decisions in cases that originated in California bear names like Asahi Metal Industry Co. v. Superior Court (1987) and Burnham v. Superior Court of California (1990). The underlying justification is that the writ jurisdiction of

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2142-504: The superior court of Mendocino County was bound by the county board of supervisors' designation of unpaid furlough days for all county employees, including those who worked for the superior court. The California State Legislature attempted to fix these issues by first enacting the Lockyer-Isenberg Trial Court Funding Act of 1997 to begin the process of transitioning the superior courts from county budgets to

2193-440: The superior court. Districts with populations more than 40,000 would be served by municipal courts, and districts with lesser populations would be served by justice courts. Municipal court jurisdiction was limited to civil cases where the amount in controversy was $ 2,000 or less and criminal misdemeanors, while justice court jurisdiction was limited to civil cases involving $ 500 or less and so-called "low grade misdemeanors". For

2244-859: The superior courts are filled by appointments made by the governor . Because Los Angeles County has the largest population of any county in the United States , it also has the largest superior court. It is also the largest single unit trial court in the United States. The Los Angeles County Superior Court is organized into dozens of highly specialized departments, dealing with everything from moving violations to mental health . It handles over 2.5 million legal matters each year, of which about 4,000 terminate in jury trials; this works out to about 4,300 matters per judge. Its 429 judges are assisted by 140 commissioners and 14 referees. In contrast, many of California's smallest counties, like Alpine , Del Norte, Inyo, Lake, Lassen, Mono, and Trinity, typically have only two superior court judges each, who are usually assisted by

2295-404: 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. Even worse, because so many of the responsibilities delegated to county governments were of a nature which people were likely to sue over, this arrangement put superior court judges in

2346-429: The superior courts, depending upon how they were counted. There were two types of municipal courts (one of which was called "police court"), two types of police courts (not to be confused with the "police court" which was a kind of municipal court), city justices' courts, city courts, and Class A and Class B judicial township justices' courts. In 1947, the state legislature directed the state judicial council to study

2397-753: Was Kern County, where the state's last four municipal court judges were sworn in by Chief Justice Ronald M. George as superior court judges on February 8, 2001. Therefore, 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

2448-440: Was enacted to raise funds for the court house and city hall, which was designed by Ayres and Higgins in 1853. The cornerstone was laid on August 6, 1853, and the first courthouse was dedicated on April 17, 1854. Theodore Winters built it for a bid of US$ 83,920 (equivalent to $ 2,850,000 in 2023). This first courthouse was approximately 60 ft × 80 ft (18 m × 24 m) and 50 ft (15 m) high. After

2499-435: Was fragmented into "58 superior courts, 75 municipal courts, and 244 justice courts, of which 74 percent were single-judge courts". Starting in the 1970s, California began to slowly phase out the use of justice courts (in which non-lawyers were authorized 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

2550-586: Was moved to a roundabout at Miner Avenue and San Joaquin Street. Main court operations are held in Stockton, the county seat, at the modern 2017 court house. There are additional branch locations in Lodi and Manteca. The branch at Tracy closed in 2011. California superior court The superior courts are the lowest level of state courts in California holding general jurisdiction on civil and criminal matters. Above them are

2601-423: Was outweighed by the benefits of continuing to use a familiar name, not having to spend money on changing existing superior court signs and letterhead, and not having to amend over 3,000 references to the superior court in 1,600 statutes. SCA 3 passed the state senate but failed to pass the state assembly; it remains historically important, however, because it laid the groundwork and created political momentum towards

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