Background
Riverside County is a large, diverse, rapidly developing jurisdiction. It covers an expanse of 7,310 square miles and is one of the fastest-growing counties in California. The Mid-county Region of Riverside County was formerly served by the Southwest Justice Center, with 12 courtrooms; the Hemet Courthouse, with 5 courtrooms; the Temecula Courthouse, with 1 courtroom; and the old Banning Courthouse, with 2 courtrooms, for a total of 20 courtrooms serving the region.
The new Banning Justice Center replaced the undersized Banning Courthouse, alleviating the shortage of space available to the superior court. The building includes six courtrooms, space for court administration, a court clerk, court security operations, a holding area, and facility support.
In November 2009, the Judicial Council acquired a 4.86-acre site on Ramsey Street between Martin and East Williams streets from the city of Banning for the new courthouse.
CEQA
Under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the Banning site qualified for a categorical exemption. Judicial Council staff concluded that infill development of this previously developed commercial site, which had been cleared and vacant since 2000, would not create significant environmental impacts.
