Civil Courts Are San Francisco's Newest Endangered Species

Like the California grizzly, another symbol of our state is about to die off: the civil courts.

​The warnings of cuts are over. They're here -- for real -- and San Francisco's civil court system will soon be a cozy concept from a bygone era in which the state could fund such luxuries as divorce court. 

The San Francisco Superior Court officially gave its 60-day notice today of court closures as required by the state judicial system. The cuts come after $652 million in ongoing state budget reductions since 2008.

It's really not pretty.

As of October 3, 25 civil courtrooms will be closed indefinitely and the county's 17 civil trial courtrooms will be reduced to three. Clerks will see their schedules cut by an hour, with courts now operating only from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

200 court workers will be laid off on September 30. The court had 591 employees three years ago. Now it will have 280.

And for one last factoid in this depressing game of California Jeopardy, try this one: The amount of time that a civil case will be backlogged because of the cuts.

Correct response: "What is five years?"

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