San Benito County Superior Court

California superior court with jurisdiction over San Benito County

San Benito County Superior Court

2014 courthouse

36°51′11″N 121°24′16″W﻿ / ﻿36.85306°N 121.40456°W﻿ / 36.85306; -121.40456
Established| 1874
Jurisdiction| San Benito County, California
Location|

*     * Hollister (county seat)

Coordinates| 36°51′11″N 121°24′16″W﻿ / ﻿36.85306°N 121.40456°W﻿ / 36.85306; -121.40456
Appeals to| California Court of Appeal for the Sixth District
Website| sanbenito.courts.ca.gov
Presiding Judge
Currently| Hon. J. Omar Rodriguez[1]
Court Executive Officer
Currently| Tim Newman

The Superior Court of California, County of San Benito, also known as the San Benito County Superior Court or San Benito Superior Court, is the California superior court with jurisdiction over San Benito County.

## History

[edit]

Plaza Hall in San Juan Bautista State Historic Park (left)

San Benito County was partitioned from Monterey County in 1874.[2]

Angelo Zanetta purchased and rebuilt Plaza Hall in San Juan Bautista in 1868; it had been constructed originally in 1815 and Zanetta was anticipating that he could resell the building to the newly-formed San Benito County to serve as a courthouse. When Hollister was named the county seat instead, Zanetta made it his family home.[3]

The first county courthouse was a two-story wooden building leased from F.I. Hodges that originally stood at the intersection of Monterey and Fourth in Hollister. Court operations began from April 6, 1874.[4]: 327 This building was used until the new courthouse was completed in May 1888, whereupon it was moved to San Benito Street and used as a Japanese lodging house.[4]: 327 John Breen was appointed as the first County Judge.[4]: 327

Former courthouses

1888 courthouse

1963 courthouse

The murder trial against John T. Prewett[5] drew many visitors to the courthouse, convincing the county Board of Supervisors "that a new court house is an absolute and pressing necessity", but an election on April 12, 1887, was defeated as the bonds proposed to be issued, US$30,000 (equivalent to $1,050,000 in 2024), was thought to be too low. A second election on June 7, 1887, authorizing the issue of US$40,000 (equivalent to $1,400,000 in 2024) in bonds passed; four lots were purchased. The cost of the land was US$4,500 (equivalent to $157,000 in 2024) and the successful bidder for construction was Knowles & Whitmore, at US$35,987 (equivalent to $1,260,000 in 2024), working from plans drawn up by J. Gosh. The new courthouse was completed on May 7, 1888.[4]: 327

This third courthouse in Hollister served until 1961, when it was damaged in an earthquake.[6][7] A new courthouse was built in 1963.[8] By 2006, the 1963 building was noted to have "extremely poor security, is functionally deficient, and is among the worst in the state in terms of physical condition", described as "outdated and undersized".[9]: 5 The present courthouse was completed in 2014 and occupied in March of that year.[10][11]

## Venues

[edit]

110m
120yds

San Benito County Superior Court locations:[12]

440 5th St (1888–1961; 1963–2014)

450 4th St (2014)

The courthouse is in Hollister, the county seat. A new courthouse was completed in early 2014, consolidating operations from several different buildings in downtown Hollister.[10]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Judicial Assignments". Superior Court of California, County of San Benito. Retrieved July 13, 2021.
2. ^ California State Assembly. "An Act to create the County of San Benito, to establish the boundaries thereof, and to provide for its organization". Twentieth  Session of the Legislature. Statutes of California. State of California. Ch. LXXXVII p. 95. direct URL
3. ^ "Plaza Hall". San Juan Bautista Historic Walking Trail. Retrieved July 21, 2022.
4. ^ a b c d Tinkham, George H. (1910). "XI: The Story of San Benito County". History and Biographical Record of Monterey and San Benito Counties. Los Angeles: Historic Record Co. pp. 323–334.323-334&rft.pub=Historic+Record+Co.&rft.date=1910&rft.au=Tinkham,+George+H.&rft_id=https://archive.org/details/historybiographi01guin/page/322/mode/2up&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:San+Benito+County+Superior+Court" class="Z3988">
5. ^ Duke, Thomas S. (1910). "The murder of Dr. A. W. Powers in San Benito County". Celebrated criminal cases of America. San Francisco: The James H. Barry Company. pp. 272–275. Retrieved July 21, 2022.272-275&rft.pub=The+James+H.+Barry+Company&rft.date=1910&rft.au=Duke,+Thomas+S.&rft_id=https://archive.org/details/celebratedcrimi00dukegoog/page/272/mode/2up&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:San+Benito+County+Superior+Court" class="Z3988">
6. ^ "San Benito County". California Supreme Court Historical Society. Retrieved July 13, 2021.
7. ^ "From the archives: Hollister hit by two quakes". SFGate. April 10, 2009. Retrieved July 21, 2022.
8. ^ "San Benito County, California". Courthouse History. Retrieved July 13, 2021.
9. ^ Office of Court Construction and Management, Administrative Office of the Courts (September 8, 2006). Superior Court of San Benito, County of San Benito: New Hollister Court Project Feasibility Report (PDF) (Report). Judicial Council of California. Retrieved July 21, 2022.
10. ^ a b "San Benito County, Hollister Courthouse". California Courts. Retrieved July 21, 2022.
11. ^ Deacon, John (2015). "San Benito County". American Courthouses. Retrieved July 13, 2021.
12. ^ "Locations & Contact Info". The Superior Court of California, County of San Benito. Retrieved July 13, 2021.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website
* California Courthouses (PDF). Judicial Council of California. 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 21, 2019.

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