Santa Maria Sun / News

Construction begins on new court clerk's building

BY JEREMY THOMAS

Dilapidated modular trailers currently housing records and staff at Santa Maria Superior Court will be history by late 2011, as construction was scheduled to begin Sept. 1 on a new, two-story, 18,650-square-foot clerk’s office.

According to Darrell Parker, the court’s assistant executive officer, the building has been a long time coming.

“It’s clearly better than a modular building that’s deteriorating and run down,” Parker said. “Last year, one of our employees literally had their foot go right through the front porch.”

Parker said the new clerk’s building will allow the court to consolidate the civil, family law, and probate staff on campus, leaving more than 3,500 square feet of space available to the county for use by the District Attorney’s office or the Sheriff’s civil deputies.

In addition to improving security, the building will also save money, Parker said; the court won’t have to pay rent on the property as it’s done in the past with the modular offices.

The building’s first floor, larger than the second, will house offices used for public transactions and records, and will support criminal, civil, traffic, and family law courts, probate, and small claims, among others. The second floor will house the court’s family mediation office, which helps divorcing couples with custody and division-of-property issues; research attorneys; and conservatorship investigators.

Spending more than 10 years in planning, the clerk’s building has been delayed due to funding issues related to the separation of the county and court systems. The relationship has been reconciled, and now the county is managing the building’s construction, according to Parker.

The project will cost roughly $3.6 million, paid for by court assessments against criminal and traffic fines, Parker said. Santa Maria-based firm Vernon Edwards Constructors is handling the construction, which Parker said he expects to be completed by October 2011. In the meantime, parking at the courthouse will be limited, as 57 spaces will be temporarily eliminated.

“During construction, it’s going to be a little bit chaotic because there’s a big hole in the middle of the campus,” Parker said. “Schedule a little extra time, and parking in the mall is probably the best bet.”