Stanislaus County Superior Court | |
---|---|
37°38′24″N120°59′51″W / 37.6399°N 120.9974°W | |
Established | 1854 |
Jurisdiction | Stanislaus County, California |
Location | Modesto |
Coordinates | 37°38′24″N120°59′51″W / 37.6399°N 120.9974°W |
Appeals to | California Court of Appeal for the Fifth District |
Website | stanct |
Presiding Judge | |
Currently | Hon. Robert Westbrook [1] |
Court Executive Officer | |
Currently | Hugh K. Swift [2] |
The Superior Court of California, County of Stanislaus, also known as the Stanislaus County Superior Court or Stanislaus Superior Court, is the California superior court with jurisdiction over Stanislaus County.
Stanislaus County was formed in 1854, partitioned from neighboring Tuolumne County. [3]
The first county seat was Adamsville, selected by a vote held June 10, 1854; [4] the county seat was moved up the Tuolumne River to Empire City that November, then La Grange in the December 20, 1855 election. In La Grange, a frame house was purchased from John Meyers for $1700 to serve as the courthouse. [4] After a portion of San Joaquin County was annexed to Stanislaus, Knights Ferry won a close election for the county seat in 1861, and court was held in a two-story brick building over the next 11 years. [4] The new city of Modesto (originally intended to be named for William Chapman Ralston) was founded in 1870 as the southern terminus of the Central Pacific Railroad, which bypassed the river towns by extending its line from Lathrop; [5] it soon became the most populous in the county, and assumed the county seat following a vote in 1871. [4] [6]
In Modesto, a temporary courthouse was set up at Eighth and I, [4] then moved to the upper floor of the Easton Building (or Eastin's Hotel), which had a saloon on the first floor where "the judge and jury could get refreshments". [6] A permanent building was constructed from 1872 to 1873 on land donated by the railroad; it was designed by Albert A. Bennett, with the ground floor entrance facing H Street. [4] It was expanded in 1904, but the Modesto Herald noted "in comparison with the beautiful modern buildings that may be seen in other counties it is not especially attractive"; [4] a grand jury's report in 1921 concluded a new courthouse was needed. [7] Court operations moved to the Hall of Records in 1939 (at 1100 I St), and the old courthouse was demolished in 1958 to clear space for the current county offices. [6] [8] [9]
The current main court house (800 11th St) was dedicated on April 23, 1960, and criticized as a "large undistinguished box". [6] It was designed by Mitchell Van Bourg & Associates. [10]
Court services are held in several locations, depending on the case type. The main courthouse in downtown Modesto handles criminal and family law. [11] The nearby City Towers courthouse handles civil lawsuits and probate matters. [12] There is a satellite courthouse in Turlock, handling small claims and unlawful detainers. [13] Traffic and Juvenile matters are handled in separate buildings within Modesto. [14] [15]
Stanislaus County is a county located in the San Joaquin Valley of the U.S. state of California. As of 2023, its estimated population is 564,404. The county seat is Modesto.
The Tuolumne River flows for 149 miles (240 km) through Central California, from the high Sierra Nevada to join the San Joaquin River in the Central Valley. Originating at over 8,000 feet (2,400 m) above sea level in Yosemite National Park, the Tuolumne drains a rugged watershed of 1,958 square miles (5,070 km2), carving a series of canyons through the western slope of the Sierra. While the upper Tuolumne is a fast-flowing mountain stream, the lower river crosses a broad, fertile and extensively cultivated alluvial plain. Like most other central California rivers, the Tuolumne is dammed multiple times for irrigation and the generation of hydroelectricity.
Central California is generally thought of as the middle third of the U.S. state of California, north of Southern California and south of Northern California. It includes the northern portion of the San Joaquin Valley, part of the Central Coast, the central hills of the California Coast Ranges and the foothills and mountain areas of the central Sierra Nevada.
State Route 132 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that connects the Central Valley with the Sierra Nevada foothills and the California Gold Country. Its western segment also connects the city of Modesto with the San Francisco Bay Area via I-580, although this route is discouraged due to it being a two-lane road between Modesto and Interstate 5. East of Modesto, the road climbs the foothills and eventually ends at SR 49 at Coulterville.
Area codes 209 and 350 are telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the U.S. state of California. Their service area includes Stockton, Modesto, Turlock, Merced, Winton, Atwater, Livingston, Manteca, Ripon, Tracy, Lodi, Galt, Sonora, Los Banos, San Andreas, Mariposa, and Yosemite, the northern San Joaquin Valley, and the Sierra Foothills.
The Stanislaus Regional Transit Authority, branded as The S, is a public transportation bus system serving Modesto, California and surrounding Stanislaus County. It was formed in 2021 from the merger of the Modesto Area Express (MAX) and Stanislaus Regional Transit (StaRT) systems. Most routes connect at the downtown Modesto Transportation Center; the Vintage Faire Mall serves as a secondary hub.
La Grange is a small unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in rural Stanislaus County, California. Its altitude is 259 feet (76 m). As of 2020 it has a population of 166. It is located along the Tuolumne River, and is near the La Grange Dam and the New Don Pedro Dam.
Turlock Lake State Recreation Area is a regional park and recreation area at Turlock Reservoir in Stanislaus County, central California, United States.
The Stanislaus County Fair, located in Turlock, California, opens every year in mid-July. It is the largest event in Stanislaus County. For 10 days, more than 220,000 visitors attend the 72-acre (290,000 m2) fairgrounds. There are nightly celebrity concerts, performances on five stages, and over 30 food concessionaires. The fair shows over 30,000 local talent exhibits, over 1,750 animals, and more than 35 carnival rides.
Thomas David Harp (1824–1900) was a California State senator representing Merced, Tuolumne and Stanislaus counties in the late 19th century.
The Modesto Irrigation District (MID) is a special-purpose district that provides irrigation and drinking water, and electrical service, to customers in the San Joaquin Valley within Stanislaus County, California.
The Government of Stanislaus County is defined and authorized under the California Constitution and law as a general law county. Much of the Government of California is in practice the responsibility of county governments, such as the Government of Stanislaus County. The County government provides countywide services such as elections and voter registration, law enforcement, jails, vital records, property records, tax collection, public health, and social services. In addition the County serves as the local government for all unincorporated areas.
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