Deal Moves County Closer to Court Site : Justice: Financing is available for first phase of Vista project. The second phase is ‘shaky.’

A land swap approved by the county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday paves the way for new courtrooms to be built in Vista. The question is whether the money will be there to finish the project or staff it with judges.

The trade between the county and the Breeze Hill Partnership culminates 2 1/2 years of negotiations that gives the developer a 7.54-acre parcel in exchange for a smaller lot and $957,114 to expand the existing court complex in Vista.

The first phase of the expansion, which includes eight new courtrooms, will begin after escrow closes in September, said Nick Marinovich of the county chief administrative office, and will cost $38.9 million.

Most of the money for that phase will come from one-time sources, such as the refinancing of existing bonds and revenue from fines and traffic tickets, Marinovich said, but funding for the second phase, which includes 16 new courtrooms and is projected to cost $104.3 million, is “shaky.”

“The second phase will need some sort of a funding source like a half-cent sales tax,” Marinovich said.

Equally precarious may be whether there are any judges to preside in the new courtrooms once the first phase is completed at the end of 1996. The state has not authorized any new judgeships since 1987, and is unlikely to do so in the next two years.

“Not unless we have a colossal bake sale or something,” said Greg Schmidt, staff director of the state Senate Judiciary Committee.

Marinovich agrees that “it’s very unlikely that new judges are going to be added to any great extent,” but that “it is anticipated that, by the time the building is ready, the judges will be there.”

The current North County judicial center had almost outgrown its site when it first opened in 1978, Marinovich said, and now trailers are being used as Municipal and Superior courtrooms. Satellite courthouses in Escondido and San Marcos have been opened to ease the crowding in Vista.

“The North County Judicial District is one of the fastest-growing judicial districts in the state,” Marinovich said. “It’s an extremely overcrowded facility.”

The newly expanded complex will probably absorb the courtrooms in San Marcos, which primarily handle traffic citations and minor offenses, Marinovich said, but the trailers will still be used.