Current News Releases

Many of the Superior Court's public Web site pages are now also available in Spanish and Vietnamese. The public may access Web pages in these languages by clicking on the "Español" or "Tiếng Việt" link located in the upper right-hand corner of the Court’s Web site at www.occourts.org.

The Superior Court of California for the County of Orange is pleased to announce that most current limited (actions filed for $25,000 or less) and unlimited (actions filed for more than $25,000) civil case documents may now be downloaded for a fee directly from the Court's Web site. Documents filed since January 1, 2008 may be searched and downloaded at www.occourts.org. From the homepage, select "online case access" and follow the directions.

In recognition of Grand Jury Awareness Month – November 2009 – The Orange County Board of Supervisors presented the Superior Court with a resolution today highlighting the importance of serving on the Orange County Grand Jury. The Court encourages qualified citizens to apply for the 2010-2011 Orange County Grand Jury. Applications will be accepted until January 8, 2010. Nineteen Orange County residents will be selected to serve as grand jurors. Service as a grand juror requires a full-time commitment for one year, from July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011.

The DUI Court program to reduce recidivism and combat the problems associated with individuals who drive under the influence (DUI) expanded to a fourth site, at the West Justice Center of the Orange County Superior Court, on October 1, 2009. Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The Superior Court of Orange County will close courtrooms and public service areas every Friday at 3:00 pm beginning November 6, 2009.

The Superior Court of Orange County is honoring some 240 attorneys who collectively donated over 5,000 hours serving as temporary judges from July 2008 to June 2009. The Court is hosting "A Tribute to our Temporary Judges" on Thursday, October 8, in the Jury Assembly Room at the Central Justice Center, 700 Civic Center Drive West, Santa Ana, 5:00-6:30 PM.

After a year of planning, a program to address the special needs of at risk girls, ages 12-17, will begin October 2nd. Approximately 30 girls from the juvenile dependency court have been selected to be the first participants in the new Girls Court program. Modeled from the successful collaborative court program, Girls Court will feature a dedicated judicial officer, court staff, and county team.

The Superior Court of Orange County is seeking a limited number of highly qualified attorneys to serve as temporary judges. All attorneys who are interested in applying to serve as a temporary judge for the next three-year term (July 2010 to June 2013), including those who currently serve, must complete and submit the application no later than December 31, 2009.

The Superior Court of Orange County will be closed the third Wednesday of each month beginning September 16, 2009, through June 16, 2010. The California Judicial Council approved the unprecedented one-day-a-month closures for all state courts due to California’s fiscal crisis and the Legislature's reduced state funding to the courts.

The Superior Court of Orange County announces a collaborative program with local bar associations that will utilize court closure days to help reduce its growing civil caseload. The Offsite Voluntary Settlement Conference program is cost free for litigants with pending civil cases and will begin on the first monthly court closure day, August 19, 2009.

The Superior Court of Orange County announces the opening of its third Self Help Center to provide better access to justice for self represented litigants, particularly in the western part of the county. The new center is located on the first floor of the West Justice Center, 8141 13th Street. It is staffed by a self help attorney, and court personnel will assist customers from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

The Superior Court of Orange County will close most courthouses and furlough employees on August 19, 2009. The Court has taken this unprecedented step as a result of California's fiscal crisis and reduced state funding to trial courts.

Beginning August 1, 2009, traffic violators in Orange County who qualify for traffic school will have the option of attending any DMV-approved classroom traffic school or any court-approved online traffic school. Traffic school will no longer be offered at court locations.

Beginning August 19, 2009, the Orange County Superior Court will close to the public on the third Wednesday of every month. These closures of the Court are due to the reduction in funding for the California court system caused by the present budget crisis. Matters already calendared for hearing on a scheduled court closure day will be re-scheduled and the parties noticed of the new date. The closures will continue through the fiscal year of 2009-2010.

The 2009 Justice Achievement Award Honorable Mention was presented to the Superior Court of Orange County at the National Association of Court Management Conference, held July 9, in Boston Massachusetts. The Court received the nationally recognized award for its innovative Packaging of Cases program designed to resolve the problem of courthouse detention overcrowding.

Dennis L. Evans, Ed. D, has been selected as the Foreperson for the 2009/2010 Grand Jury which will begin a one-year term July 1, 2009 announced Judge Kim G. Dunning, Chair of the Grand Jury Recruitment and Selection Committee.

The 19 members and 11 alternates of the 2009-2010 Orange County Grand Jury were selected today from a drawing held in Dept. C1 of the Central Justice Center, 700 Civic Center Drive West, Santa Ana.

The Superior Court of California, County of Orange will celebrate Juror Appreciation Week, May 11-15, to acknowledge the service and participation of local citizens as jurors.

The Superior Court of California, County of Orange is joining other organizations around the state in celebrating Mediation Week March 15-21, 2009.

The Superior Court will transition from the County of Orange Online Bidding System to a system, independent of the County, effective April 1, 2009.