New Legislation May Bring New Court of Appeal

A new bill in the California Legislature is making its way through various political channels that would create a new District Court of Appeal.  If this bill passed, it would replace the current 4th District, Division Two Court of Appeal with the 7th District Court of Appeal. 

Currently, the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division Two, serves Riverside, San Bernardino, and Inyo counties; combined the area covers 37,000 square miles, and is home to more than 4 million people.  The area is so large that for every justice in Division Two, there are 609,125 people in the jurisdiction. 

By contrast, in the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division One, in San Diego, there are only 342,328 people per justice, and in Division Three, in Santa Ana, there are only 397,771 people per justice.  The disparity is huge.  Conversion of the Fourth Appellate District, Division Two, into its own free-standing District Seven will concentrate administrative and budget responsibilities in the Inland Empire where they belong, and will remove an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy standing between Division Two and the people of the Inland Empire.

The bill is currently in committee in Sacramento.