Court could soon be in session again in Tracy.
The state budget signed June 29 by Gov. Gavin Newsom includes $3.5 million in early-stage work on a new San Joaquin County Superior Court facility in Tracy, according to Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom, D-Tracy.
Planning documents envision a building of approximately 28,000 square feet. It would have two courtrooms, secure parking for judges and court officers plus surface parking and solar power generation capacity. The total cost would be $65.8 million.
The facility would replace what had been the court complex at 475 E. 10th St. The shuttered compound consists of four buildings, two of them temporary structures. The complex opened in 1968 and closed in 2011 at the tail end of the recession amid budgetary constraints, according to state documents. It never reopened “due to needed replacement.”
Instead, Tracy residents involved in judicial proceedings or jury service have needed to go to courthouses in Stockton, Manteca, Lodi or in the case of juvenile matters, French Camp.
“For more than 15 years, Tracy has gone without a working courthouse, forcing South County residents to travel farther, wait longer for court services, and contributing to backlogs at neighboring courts,” Ransom said in a news release announcing the funding.
She credited the Judicial Council of California and the Legislature’s budget committees for joining her in the move to “bring court services back to Tracy.”