MODESTO — Nearly all of the Stanislaus County’s 26 judges and commissioners, along with several elected officials from throughout the region, gathered in a downtown Modesto eatery on Tuesday for the inaugural “Day on the Bench” program.

Superior Court Judge Carrie M. Stephens spearheaded the event that was geared toward helping legislators better understand the inner workings of the county’s judicial system.

“I went to a conference — as a presiding judge, there are conferences and training sessions — and some of the counties presented on their own ‘Day on the Bench’ events,” said Stephens, a former captain in the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General corps. “And it was all good. It was just an opportunity to get on the same page to try to solve the issues that we’re ethically able to solve. … One of those is procedures and policies that impact access to justice. That’s the theme. That’s our mission.

“And it was it at that conference that I thought, ‘We should be doing this.’”

District 2 Supervisor Vito Chiesa came away impressed with the program.

“It gave everybody a better understanding of the court system,” said Chiesa. “ We’re integrated in a number of ways — through the sheriff’s department, court holdings, court transportation — and seeing how we interact helps everyone become more efficient at their jobs.”

The day started with a tour of the new county courthouse that is currently under construction between 9th and 10th, and G and H streets in downtown Modesto. The new 310,000-square-foot facility will feature 27 courtrooms and has an overall budget of just over $350 million. It’s expected to be operational in spring of 2025.

The tour also included a visit to a mock courtroom.

“The purpose of the mock courtroom to find any flaws in the design and fix them now instead of having to fix it dozens of times down the road, saving the county time and money,” said Assemblymember Juan Alanis (R-Modesto), a former sergeant with the Sheriff’s Office whose last assignment before his retirement was at the current courthouse. “It was just like being inside a normal, more advanced courtroom.”

Several judges took turns at the dais, highlighting different parts of the judicial system, including an overview of court operations; funding and budget; priorities and programs; courthouse construction update; CARE Court; and community outreach.

The 2024-25 state budget calls for a 7.95 percent reduction in trial court funding, which translates to $97 million dollars. That would result in a $1.1 million decrease for Stanislaus County alone.

And while there’s a need for more judges in the state, there’s a dearth of court reporters.

“California courts presently employs about 1,200 court reporters,” said Judge Valli Israels. “But guess what. We need 650 more at this time.”

Statewide, there’s been an 27 percent net loss in the number of court reporters since January 2023, with 76 percent of courts actively recruiting for the position. Applications for new court reporter licenses are down more than 70 percent statewide, even though state courts are implementing $30 million in employment incentives.

“So, understand this folks,” Israels told the gathering. “In Alameda County: $25,000 as a signing bonus for a court reporter. In Los Angeles: $50,000. So, there are these tremendous bonuses. And there are retention bonuses for court reporters, too. There are finders fees for people who find court reporters. There are tuition reimbursements and salary increases, as well.”

According to Israels, compensation isn’t the issue. In recent years, the median salary for a court reporters was nearly $185,000, about 51 percent more than non-manager court positions.

Judge Sonny Sandhu then spoke about programs that are geared toward Stanislaus County youth, with programs such as First Impressions (where fifth-graders put the Big Bad Wolf on trial); Judges in the Classroom; Stanislaus County Office of Education Mock Trials; and the CSUS Court Observer Program.

“I can’t say enough about SCOE,” said Sandhu, formerly the county’s public defender. “They have been a great partner in all these programs that we’ve initiated.”

In additon to Chiesa and Alanis, Modesto Mayor Sue Zwahlen and a representative from the office of state Sen. Marie Alvarado Gil (D-Jackson) were on hand for the event.