Background
The Superior Court of Butte County operated out of two geographically separate facilities: the Chico Courthouse in the northern part of the county, where the population is greatest, and the main Butte County Courthouse in Oroville, located in the south. Because of space issues--compounded by the closure of the Paradise Courthouse--the Chico Courthouse could not handle the volume and variety of cases and was restricted to civil and some traffic calendars. The court processed all criminal, juvenile, and mental health cases, as well as all appeals and jury selection for every criminal case type, in Oroville. All family law and domestic violence cases were also heard in Oroville. The overcrowded Chico Courthouse also suffered from problems with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility and security constraints.
The new North Butte County Courthouse is a full-service, five-courtroom courthouse in the greater Chico area. The facility consolidated court operations of the existing Chico Courthouse and the closed Paradise Courthouse. Initially, the new courthouse handled civil, probate, traffic, family law, and juvenile dependency cases. Site support includes surface parking for visitors, staff, and jurors. Criminal cases and juvenile delinquency matters continue to be handled in Oroville.
In November 2010, the California Public Works Board approved acquisition of a site for the courthouse: approximately 4 acres in the Meriam Park area in southeast Chico, north of 20th Street and east of Bruce Road. The acquisition was completed in October 2011.
CEQA
The Judicial Council complied with CEQA by filing a Notice of Determination for this project on April 5, 2010.
