Contra Costa Lawyer - Contra Costa County Bar Association

Richmond Court
The George Carroll Courthouse
Hon. Thomas M. Maddock
Supervising Judge
2010 has been a great year at the
George Carroll Courthouse in Richmond.
Judge Hinton, Judge Weil,
Judge Berger and Judge Stark join
Commissioner Broughton and me as we
hear all of the West County Felony Preliminary
hearings (PX's), Misdemeanor
Jury Trials, Small Claims cases and Appeals,
Traffic cases, Domestic Violence
cases, Unlawful Detainer matters and
both Juvenile Dependency and Delinquency
cases.
We are operating with one less judge
than historically assigned to this courthouse
and through re-engineering of
the calendaring and case assignments,
together with the excellent staff effort,
we are getting all the work done including
any increases in case load.
We have instituted a new trial by
declaration procedure for traffic tickets
when the defendant has failed to appear
after notice and a signed promise to appear.
This process allows us to eliminate
a 5-year-old backlog on traffic tickets
and also eliminate all of the warrants
formerly issued. We have a new simplified
request for trial de novo for such
cases, when the defendant responds in a
timely manner.
There is also a new procedure for trials
by declaration when requested by
the defendant that eliminates unnecessary
appearances. Finally, we have a new
vendor for collection of traffic fines that
will set up payment plans for those who
require them, dramatically reducing the
need for extra court appearances.
Criminal trials are held on Mondays
and Wednesdays. Felony PX’s are heard
5 days a week. Unlawful Detainer cases
are heard on Monday mornings as are
Domestic Violence Restraining Orders.
Law and Motion on criminal is heard on
Tuesday and Friday afternoons and civil
motions are heard Monday mornings.
Traffic and small claims are heard Monday
through Friday with extended hours
to 8:00 PM on Wednesdays. Effective
October 4, 2010 the Unlawful Detainer
calendar will be heard by Commissioner
Broughton, which will allow more time
on Monday to start jury trials. u
Walnut Creek Court
Hon. William M. Kolin
Supervising Judge
The Walnut Creek branch Court of
the Contra Costa Superior Court
has three assigned judges: Judges Kolin,
Mills and Spanos. Commissioner Joel
Golub is also assigned to the Court for
traffic, small claims and other matters.
Our Court is responsible for all misdemeanor
cases filed in both the Walnut
Creek-Danville Judicial District as well
as the Mt. Diablo Judicial District. We
do felony out-of-custody arraignments
on all misdemeanors and felonies arising
from cases originating within those two
judicial districts.
We are primarily a trial court and have
four jury trial settings each week. We
do both in-custody and out-of-custody
misdemeanor jury trials, and handle outof-custody
preliminary examinations on
felony matters in our Court. u
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