To save money, California is in the process of shuttering 77 courthouses, reports National Public Radio. Many courts have also instituted reduced hours at their public service counters. NPR cites a Fresno County satellite facility in Coalinga as an example of “the case of the disappearing courthouse.”
Fresno County closed the courthouse last year. It now uses video streaming, via the television, to hold traffic court. For small claims cases and criminal arraignments, everyone — including police officers — must to travel more than an hour to Fresno. Last year, those travel expenses cost the Coalinga Police Department around $25,000, officials said.