Our Courts - Contra Costa County Bar Association

Year in Review
Hon. tHERESA canepa
Supervising Judge
Pittsburg Court
The Arnason Justice Center
The Arnason Justice Center’s
(AJC’s) current bench officers
include Judge George
Spanos, Judge Rebecca Hardie,
Judge Cheryl Mills and Commissioners
Steve Houghton, and
Lowell Richards, as we hear all of
the East County Felony PXs, Misdemeanor
Jury Trials, Family law matters,
Domestic Violence cases, Small
Claims cases and appeals, Traffic
cases, Unlawful Detainer matters,
and both Juvenile Dependency and
Delinquency cases.
Sadly, this past year we lost a
valuable member of the Pittsburg
bench, Family Law Commissioner
Jeffrey Huffaker. His wonderful demeanor
and strong work ethic have
been sorely missed, and our branch
is not the same without him.
In terms of assignments, we
converted our matrix to a Master
Calendar system, so that all trials,
preliminary hearings, and motions
are handled in Master Calendar as
well as assigned to available departments.
Additionally, the workload
in both misdemeanor and felony
cases in the Pittsburg branch has increased
substantially, particularly
in the area of felony filings. However,
all filings are increasing. (The following
numbers reflect actual cases
on calendar).
For example, in May 2012 we had
2,214 cases pending; in June 2012,
we had 2,619 cases pending; and in
July 2012, we had 2,432 cases pending.
Our clerk’s office, headed by
Court Administrator Cyndi Mlack,
continues to work at capacity and
Our clerk’s office, headed by Court Administrator Cyndi Mlack, continues
to work at capacity and with remarkable efficiency. Clearly, our dedicated
clerks deserve kudos for processing the ever-increasing volume of
work facing this branch.
with remarkable efficiency. Clearly,
our dedicated clerks deserve kudos
for processing the ever-increasing
volume of work facing this branch.
Our matrix of assignments, which
will be subject to change next year,
due to upcoming budgetary issues,
is currently the following:
• Master Calendar hears and assigns
out Felony preliminary hearings
on Tuesdays and Wednesdays,
while “special unit” or lengthy
hearings are held in Master Calendar
on Monday, Thursdays,
and Fridays.
• Master Calendar assigns out misdemeanor
trials on Mondays and
Thursdays.
• Unlawful Detainer cases are
heard Mondays, Wednesday, and
Fridays at 2:30 p.m.
• Domestic Violence Restraining
Orders are heard Thursdays at 1:30
p.m.
• Master Calendar hears and assigns
out Criminal Law and Motion
on Mondays at 1:30 p.m. and
Thursdays at 1:30 p.m.
• Traffic matters are heard Monday-
Friday at 8:30 a.m. except for the
second and fourth Mondays of
each month when they are heard
from 5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
• Small claims cases are heard Mondays,
Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and
Fridays at 1:15 p.m.
• Small claims appeals are heard on
Tuesdays at 1:30 p.m.
• Juvenile Dependency matters are
heard Mondays and Thursdays
at 8:30 a.m., and Juvenile Delinquency
cases are heard Tuesdays,
Wednesdays, and Fridays at 8:30
a.m.
FAMILY LAW FACILITATOR
WORKSHOPS
The AJC’s Family Law Facilitator
24
NovemBER 2012