Plans for a new Santa Barbara courthouse have been stalled for years since the project isn’t fully funded by the state, but the Judicial Council of California plans to ask for more money in 2026.
The Judicial Council approved a five-year infrastructure plan last week and listed the new Santa Barbara courthouse as a “critical need” project. The plan proposes asking the state for the project’s next phase of funding in the 2026-27 budget.
The proposed courthouse facility would replace the Figueroa building and consolidate all of the Santa Barbara criminal courtrooms instead of having them split between the Figueroa and Anacapa courthouse buildings. It also would include Jury Services, which is currently held in a county-owned building next to the District Attorney’s Office.
Improving security — including entrance screening and larger in-custody holding areas — is another major motivation for the project. Superior Court recently added entrance screening to the historic Anacapa courthouse building, but previously used only portable security stations outside criminal courtrooms for certain hearings.
The entrance screening was put into place during the COVID-19 pandemic, partially because court staff were checking temperatures, Court Executive Officer Darrel Parker previously told Noozhawk. The historic Anacapa courthouse building was closed to the public and to tourists for more than two years and reopened in May.
People in jail custody appearing in court for their criminal cases are frequently escorted along public sidewalks and across Figueroa Street to get from one building to the other. They are also transported between floors and courtrooms using each building’s public elevators, so hallways are often blocked off during those times.
The state purchased the property at 1025 Santa Barbara St. in 2011 for $7 million for the new courthouse, which will be built partially overlapping the current Figueroa courthouse building. Buildings on the Santa Barbara Street property were demolished in 2018 and the project was put on pause after that, pending funding.
The new courthouse would cost an estimated $102.8 million, according to the state.
The Judicial Council considered a renovation and addition project but concluded that it would cost as much or more than a new building.
Senate Bill 1407 funded courthouse projects with an Immediate and Critical Needs Account of the State Court Facilities Construction Fund, but that fund was projected to be insolvent by 2021-22, according to the Judicial Council. Funds were diverted to other general fund issues or court operations rather than the priority list of courthouse construction projects.
In a 2019 reassessment of courthouse capital projects, Santa Barbara’s was placed in the “critical need” category below 18 Superior Court projects with “immediate need” in other counties.
“Moving forward, the funding challenge for all courthouse capital projects is the competition they face as the judicial branch and all other state entities vie for the same General Fund dollars,” the Judicial Council wrote in a 2019 reassessment report.
This week, Judicial Council spokesman Blaine Corren said there is no federal infrastructure funding available to pay for restarting the new Santa Barbara courthouse project.
— Noozhawk managing editor Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.