Dublin To Have Full Service Courthouse by 2014
Alameda County Property Sign in Front of Future Dublin Courthouse Complex
Alameda County will be building a full service courthouse in Dublin, CA, by 2014. The current facility in Pleasanton only has five courtrooms and is located in the middle of an office park. Because of the location and facility limitations, Pleasanton’s courthouse does not have the high-profile cases that require a well-fortified holding cell. Rather, the cases directed to the Pleasanton courthouse are of the lighter fare like criminal felony, misdemeanor, civil, traffic, small claims, and night court. In contrast, Dublin’s courthouse will have 13 courtrooms and will hear all cases ranging from traffic violations to homicide.
Once the Dublin facility is open, high-profile Tri-Valley cases will be held in Dublin for two primary reasons. First, the Dublin courthouse will have the necessary facilities to hold the accused individuals temporarily. In addition, transferring prisoners from the Santa Rita county jail to the Dublin courthouse will be much easier than it would be to the Hayward or Oakland courthouses. Alameda County could potentially build an underground tunnel from the Santa Rita county jail to the Dublin courthouse to make the transfer of inmates as seamless as possible.
Legal and bail bonds offices could open up at Emerald Point (on the corner of Hacienda Drive and Gleason Drive) once the courthouse opens. The City of Dublin would likely need to issue Conditional Use Permits or rezone the Emerald Point facility to allow the legal and bail bonds offices to setup shop, since Emerald Point is currently zoned for campus office.
With the arrival of the Dublin courthouse, local residents may have a higher chance of fulfilling jury duty in a courthouse closer to home; however, the possibility of being called to jury duty in Oakland or Hayward for felony cases remains, since the jury pool for felony cases must include residents from all over Alameda County.
Many residents may recall that Alameda County had originally proposed to build a juvenile detention hall at the location where the courthouse will be built. The initial plan to build a juvenile detention hall were thwarted by a group of Dublin residents called the Friends of Dublin led by Kasie Hildenbrand (now a member of the Dublin City Council) and David Haubert (now President of the DUSD Board and up for re-election in 2010). Some residents may be thinking that this is a “pick your poison” scenario in that a juvenile detention hall and a courthouse are considered undesirable institutions in a suburban, residential neighborhoods. If you have to decide between a juvenile detention hall or a full service courthouse, which would you choose?
5:17 AM on February 1st, 2010
Back in 2000 I led the “Stop the Super Jail” effort which thousands of Dublin residents rallied around to help block the juvenile detention center. An important point regarding that effort – whereas the courthouse was disclosed in our Dublin Ranch home purchase documentation at the time, the juvenile detention center was not. Since 2000, for better or worse, the courthouse has never been an “if” but a “when / how”. In addition to the Stop the Super Jail effort, some residents were also considering suing homebuilders for failing to disclose the juvenile detention center in purchase documentation. If I recall correctly the land is owned / controlled by Alameda County, not the City (I suspect if given the choice the City would build something else on that lot).
6:34 AM on February 1st, 2010
Minor correction – the Stop the Super Jail campaign kicked off in 2001 (the original website is archived on the Way Back Internet Machine). For those interested in some history on this topic, some of the articles from the time are still available online. Here is one of them: http://www.asianweek.com/2002_08_02/feature.html.
8:42 PM on February 1st, 2010
James,
Thanks for caring residents like you to stop the nonsense. I am absolutely opposed to the jail idea. As far as the court idea, I am neutral at this point.
12:33 PM on February 1st, 2010
If you have to decide between a juvenile detention hall or a full service courthouse, which would you choose?
Is this really a choice to make?
1:46 PM on February 1st, 2010
When you have a member of the Dublin City Council being an Alameda County Sheriff’s Department employee, you better believe that all things relating to the Jail, Courthouse, Juvenile Hall and other similar agendas will be pushed hard.. I truly believe that it is a complete conflict of interest to have an Alameda County Sheriff’s employee on the city council.. It would be like having Someone from Intel on the Santa Clara City Council. Do you think it would be fair if that was the case? Do you think that Intel might somehow get preferential treatment or the city may turn a blind eye to Intel-related issues or concerns? How can a city council member, on the payroll of the Alameda Country Sheriff, possibly be non-biased when it comes to all things related to him and his main employer–
1:55 PM on February 1st, 2010
With all the low-income housing here in Dublin, as well as what is projected to come here, it makes sense to have this as a one-stop-shop-
Families can live in Elan while daddy or big brother is in jail, waiting for a trial. Food credit coupons will help with general expenses while Section 8 helps with rent.. That way no one will have to get a lousy job..
2:20 PM on February 1st, 2010
Hopefully Dublin is smart enough to not allow Emerald Point to turn into a Bail Bonds area. If I was renting in Emerald Point I would be embarrassed to be next to a Bail Bonds business to be honest. Dublin needs to take care of big businesses like Sybase and make sure we’re not upsetting them with this type of thing… Hopefully the Bail Bondsmen can instead set up shops across the street from Dublin City Hall area…
2:44 PM on February 1st, 2010
Really, this is a surprise? The plans for the courthouse (on County land) have been in the works since the ground broke for the first houses in Summer Glen. If you are upset about the potential new court house, then you must be upset with being so close to the county jail too. Unfortunately, all of this was disclosed when you chose to move to East Dublin. It’s like the folks who move next to an airport and complain about the noise. Clearly the chicken was here first.
5:18 PM on February 1st, 2010
You may be right. However, the neither the Super Court or the Juvenille Detention Center are not built yet. Before I moved in to this area, I was told that the Jail only hold the minor criminals. Now it is turing into a Supert Jail and Court. This is absolutely rediculous that county would put another step on all the home owners in Dublin right after the recession of the decade. I wonder if there will be a public hearing or thing for us to voice or opinions. The new Court will create nuisances to the surrounding neigborhood. Especially, the communities adjacent to BART. We should have zero tolerance for the Super Court.
6:58 PM on February 1st, 2010
Santa Rita has never been a minor jail, in fact even the Federal Correction Center is medium security (minimum only for the Federal Women’s facility). Santa Rita is the main jail for Alameda County, holding many unsavory people awaiting trial. This is the reason the county has long planned to build a larger Superior Court in Dublin, so the inmate transport will be easier. This has been the plan since before Summer Glen was built and if you heard otherwise, you didn’t do any research on the current, existing facilities in the area prior to moving here.
3:15 PM on February 1st, 2010
Is Kevin Hart allowed to vote or give opinion on any Alameda County Sheriff Dept issues? For instance, if the city has to look at budgeting issues for the SD, or costs or anything related to the Sheriff’s Department, is Mr. Hart allowed to vote or does he have to abstain? I’m just curious-
4:32 PM on February 1st, 2010
We all Dubliners should all work together to stop this Super Jail. We do not want to see the property value keep on going down. It also has negative impact on the development near Bart. Can you imagine all those super criminals hanging out near bart. We should organize a avocate group to voice our opinions.
4:47 PM on February 1st, 2010
Please neither Juvenille Detention center or a high court will suit our community. Everyone know Dublin has come a long way in terms of creating a wonderful community. Why would the county decide to put this high Court to ruin the decade of making community. Do we as residents and home-owners have chance to prevent it from happening? I believe most of us spend almost life-time saving to purchase a home Dublin in which we believe it is a sustainable community. By building this super court, the benefit will not be justified with the drawback. There will be more criminal traffic in our area. Talking about the Transit Village near Bart, majority of the criminal will take Bart to the area. It definitely set Dublin into failure in 4 years. We should all prevent it from happening or I will consider moving to other cities.
5:38 PM on February 1st, 2010
Does anyone know if there is another website to voice my opinions. I have put some constructive comments here to make people aware of our right as a home owner of Dublin. However, they have been removed from this blog. I am completely upset with this action.
10:32 PM on February 1st, 2010
Sorry for the mis-post. I just realized there was a delay in my comments. I was just so anxious to get everyone to work together.
5:57 PM on February 1st, 2010
I think another group of folks needs to rally behind stopping this proposed build. I guarantee we would get the public support here. Dublin is already the ugly step child in the valley, crammed between Pleasanton and San Ramon, Danville, Alamo….If Dublin is ever to be thought of in the same vein as its neighbors, someone(s)needs to rally to the cause, step up and rethink all the horrible decisions being made around what gets built where. This goes far beyond the Court issue.
10:39 PM on February 1st, 2010
I totally agreed with you. Why always in Dublin. Are we just too minor that people can ignore what we want in our community. Are we very desperate to have whatever construction coming to us to create job? Are we just too tolerable to a point they can take advantage of us to put anything in our community that other city like San Ramon, Pleasanton and Danville would deny? We definitely need to get the public support for our community.
9:01 PM on February 1st, 2010
I absolutely agree with the comments above. A Super Court is not what the Dublin community needs. With the current recessionary environment, it is already difficult enough to attract the the type of high end retail stores and tech companies that would be beneficial to Dublin. The addition of a Super Court and the criminal element that it brings will only bring down Dublin’s potential. I moved here a year ago and have been disappointed by the delays in the Promenade, the lack of tenants at Grafton Station and the recent cancellation of the new Whole Foods. Is there any way that we can block this development? I would be fully supportive and would be happy to participate if there was a group voicing an opposition.
3:27 PM on February 2nd, 2010
Just so I’m getting the big picture, we’re not getting the Whole Foods, we’re not getting high end shops, and restaurants in Promenade, we’re not getting the Club Sport, but were are getting a super prison, low income housing, bail bonds offices, and a Muslim community center.
…so what’s the housing market looking like in San Ramon?
5:12 PM on February 2nd, 2010
One item is definitely off that list – the juvenile detention center (aka “Super Jail”) issue is long dead – killed years ago by local residents and interest groups rallying together as I noted at the top. Regarding the courthouse there has never been an organized effort (that I’m aware of) to impact that decision which pre-dated our family moving to Dublin in 2000.
For those that want to impact the courthouse – and that horse has likely long since left the barn – I’m 99% certain that fight would be with Alameda County since they own the land. I think the City has had some influence on “how” the courthouse would be built but not “if”.
From my earlier experience fighting the juvenile detention center you have to be in for the long haul to stop initiatives like this (meaning it’s a multi-year personal commitment to organize and rally residents), and be prepared to spend non-trivial amounts of money in the process.
6:35 PM on February 2nd, 2010
Thanks for the valuable update on the issue. If the full service court house is ever allowed to proceed building. There will be a series of related building type to be built in the so called ‘Government Center.’ We should definitely take action to stop that. I am sure the County will try whatever way to window dress and soften impact of this project.
11:43 AM on February 4th, 2010
What’s in it for Dublin to host high crime courthouses? Does Dublin have any say in this matter?
Dublin already has the burden of hosting a county jail. Why can’t Pleasanton share the burden by expanding their existing courthouse facilities to support higher profile crime cases?
We should create an action plan to turn the tide:
1) Can we vote off the County Sheriff’s employee from the city council?
2) Can the city propose a measure to raise money and buy the land back from Alameda County to re-purpose it for something more attractive?
3) We should organize to build a consistent and desirable identity for Dublin and stop the ridiculous hodgepodge planning of extremes: on one hand, we have beautiful communities and great things to come and on the other we have horrible things such as county jail, high crime courthouses, pawn shops, bounty hunters and bail bond businesses?
Now I’m beginning to regret moving to Dublin…
2:29 PM on February 4th, 2010
The County has always owned the land where the courthouse is being built. It was never owned by the city. Also, the county did not decide to build the courthouse after the Juvenile Detention Facility was defeated. Originally they were going to build both in Dublin. The reason behind building the courthouse in Dublin is that the county currently rents courthouse space in Pleasanton and leasing these buildings doesn’t make good economic sense. Also, by using the county land near the jail (which by the way is the 5th largest in the nation), resources and services could be located together. I’m not talking bail bondsman, but the District Attorneys offices, facilities for the judges, etc. As for changing the zoning for Emerald Point to something other than Office Campus is a ridiculous notion. Emerald Point is owned by Cisco and they do not want to lease to anyone nor sell. They are perfectly happy with their vacant building. Also the land closest to the FCI and Camp Parks is owned by DSRSD and may some day become their corporation yard.
None of this information about the courthouse should surprise anyone. It has always been disclosed to the residents and home buyers and was not a part of the fight to stop the Super Jail. The Super Jail as mentioned by James in a previous posting had not been disclosed and had other issues associated with it. It was never about picking on poison over another. It was about about a non-disclosure issue and a social justice issue with the facility.
Kevin Hart has much legal advice from the City Attorney on what he can and cannot vote on. Rest assured their attorney would not let him participate in a vote if there was a conflict of interest.