By Jason W. Armstrong
Daily Journal Staff Writer

SAN BERNARDINO - The Redlands courthouse, which handles probate and traffic cases, will close down on October 12, San Bernardino County Superior Court administrators said Friday.

The Redlands branch, one of a dozen court locations in the county, is another casualty of the budget crunch which has led to closures, operations cuts and furlough days for courts across the state.

Court officials said they would move all Redlands probate matters to the downtown San Bernardino civil courthouse, and the jurisdiction's traffic cases will be heard at the downtown San Bernardino criminal courthouse. The two Redlands-based judges and other court staff will transfer to San Bernardino. Redlands is 10 miles east of San Bernardino.

Officials said the closure would help the court comply with a state court administration mandate to slice several million dollars from their annual budget. San Bernardino County Presiding Judge James McGuire said the Redlands shutdown is expected to save the court $1 million per year, mostly from removing security areas such as bailiff and guard staffing in the courthouse.

McGuire also has said that another $500,000 savings is expected to come from the court's previously-announced plan to dramatically cut hours and remove all criminal trials from outlying branch courthouses in Needles and Big Bear starting Sept. 8.

The shutdown comes as courts statewide are taking drastic steps to deal with shrinking coffers, including trimming hours and services and laying off employees and holding vacant positions open. Los Angeles County Superior Court last month began instituting monthly furlough days to help save cash, and the rest of the state's courts are scheduled to start closing the third Wednesday of each month starting in September.

jason_armstrong@dailyjournal.com