Hon. Charles Margines, assistant presiding judge of the Superior Court of Orange County and chair of Grand Jury Recruitment and Selection Committee, has extended the deadline to apply for Grand Jury service to January 30, 2015. Judge Margines said, “The Court is required to empanel a new 19-member Grand Jury panel to serve a one-year term that begins July 1. We are hopeful that by extending the application deadline, a sufficient number of qualified individuals will apply, especially from the cities of Anaheim, Brea, Buena Park, Garden Grove, Fountain Valley, Fullerton, La Habra, Placentia, and Santa Ana.” Visit www.ocgrandjury.org for an application or more information. Read the Court's news release here http://bit.ly/1yb6Ip9.  

Under The Apple Tree: My Experiences with UCI Law’s Elder Abuse Clinic
By UCI Law Student Ariela Rutkin-Becker

“I thought I’d be sitting under an apple tree now, you know, at this point of my life. And I don’t want to leave the world in this situation that I’m in.”

The quote above was spoken to me on a Friday morning in early November by an 83-year-old woman who stopped by the Elder Abuse Clinic at Central Justice Center for help. She was facing a series of harassing behaviors from her son’s live-in, on-and-off girlfriend that were exacerbating her health issues: hypertension and cancer amongst them. The police had told her on numerous occasions that she needed a restraining order for them to take appropriate actions, and after being sent on a wild goose chase through the courts of Orange County, she found our Clinic.

Read the entire article on the UCI Law “Voice” publication at this link: http://bit.ly/1BQS6KB.  

The national Court Information Technology Officers Consortium and the Conference of State Court Administrators honored our Court with a 2014 Innovation Award. The award for Court Business Processes recognized our Court for “notable contributions to the judiciary” for the creation and implementation of a completely electronic environment for criminal cases. The project was initially created as a cost-saving measure due to significant budget cuts imposed upon the Court. For more information about electronic criminal case files, click here.

CIVIL COURT REPORTER POOLING PROJECT (Click Here)
PLEASE NOTE: Effective February 2, 2015, all unlimited civil courtrooms, including the civil complex courtrooms, will shift from one-to-one assignment of a court reporter to a civil courtroom for all hearings to a system where court reporters are assigned to a courtroom as needed for trials and other matters in which oral evidence will be presented.

The Center for Court Innovation, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance , selected the O.C. Community Court in Santa Ana as one of four mentor sites for other courts around the nation. Community courts emphasize alternative responses to incarceration by linking offenders to drug treatment, mental health services, job training, and other services to help them address the underlying issues that often fuel criminal behavior. This commitment to “procedural justice” can help reduce crime, improve compliance with court orders, and enhance public trust in the justice system. More information is available by reading the Court’s News Release .

Click here to read the Court's notice.

The Forum on the Advancement of Court Technology (FACT) named the Superior Court of Orange County as a 2014 winner of its annual Top 10 Court Websites Award. The online announcement about the award can be viewed here . One of the FACT judges commented, "The site does a great job of presenting a lot of information in a manner that is attractive and accessible.” Another of the judges said, "'Quick links to 'Find Information For…' and 'How Do I…' are nicely done! This website is very well done and user friendly.”

Several Orange County residents have recently reported receiving a phone call or voicemail from an individual claiming to be a law enforcement officer asking for payment to clear up a warrant that had been issued because the resident did not appear for jury service. These calls are fraudulent and have no connection to the Orange County Superior Court. Anyone receiving a phone call from someone demanding payment for an outstanding warrant should report it immediately as a crime to their local law enforcement agency.

Also, please note that Orange County Superior Court’s Jury Services staff does not ask past, current, or prospective jurors for information regarding credit card numbers, bank account information, or Social Security numbers. Please do not provide this type of information to anyone claiming to be associated with Jury Services.

The Self-Help Services website now has an interactive Self-Help Small Claims Online Interview   available. The online interview is a free screening tool that self-represented litigants can use to quickly access specific information for their legal problem. The online interview is provided as a public service and is created as a self-guiding tool to services, resources, and options for help with a legal matter. It is not a tool that provides legal advice.

Based on the interviewees’ responses, the online interview produces a summary of information that can include court procedures, forms, and service referrals which may take the place of litigation. The online interview provides links to many alternative services.

Family Law Fillable Forms Can Be Filed With The Court Electronically at No Additional Cost.
Start or respond to a divorce, legal separation, nullity or paternity case with easy to use, fillable, “SmartForms” that can be completed and submitted to the Court 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from any computer that has access to the Internet.

Click here to begin

Electronic Filing system (eFiling) and Electronic Service (eService).
24 hours/day, 7 days/week click here. Frequently asked questions can be accessed here.

On July 1, 2014 the Civil department launched its Proposed Order Module in accordance with rule 3.1312 of the California Rules of Court. All proposed orders and/or stipulations and orders are required to be submitted in a Word version along with a PDF. The only exceptions are those orders that are submitted on mandatory judicial council forms. The launching of this module will provide faster turnaround time for orders submitted to the courtroom and signed orders will now be returned via the original transaction submitted.

The records of the Superior Court of California, County of Orange indicate that a trust fund has money eligible for distribution. These funds were deposited for an arbitration hearing between February 2007 to June 2008. If you believe that you are entitled to claim any of the civil deposits paid to the Court, please file an Arbitrator’s Fee Statement L-0190  form.

The Superior Court of Orange County is proud to present the Fiscal Year 2014-15 Approved Budget and the Fiscal Year 2014-15 Budget at a Glance. The approved budget summarizes the Court's operating budget, provides detailed expenditure budget information for each cost center, and includes other summarized information that might be useful to Court staff and the general public. The Budget at a Glance is designed to be a two-sided tri-fold pamphlet providing high-level budget information.
(Please click on Approved Budget, Fiscal Year 2014-15 or Budget At A Glance, Fiscal Year 2014-15 to open the document)