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Starting Monday, March 2, North County residents will no longer be required to drive to downtown San Diego to file their probate matters.

Governor Gavin Newsom signed his first state budget on Thursday, which includes nearly $470 million in new judicial branch funding to continue the courts’ steady recovery after years of deep cuts.

Statewide investment in self-help services has helped Alameda Superior Court open a second center.

"We in the judicial branch will do our best to serve the public in these unprecedented times of a global pandemic and recession," Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye said.

Facing growing numbers of civil and family law litigants representing themselves, courts are expanding services offered through “self-help” centers.

Every year, nearly 1.2 million people come to self-help centers in California courthouses seeking guidance with civil cases such as divorces, evictions, and restraining orders. While every county court has its own self-help center, nearly a dozen also use JusticeCorps students to help serve users.

With dozens of Santa Barbara court employees cut off by mudslides, an unusual partnership with a neighboring county helps keep the court running.

More than 150 judges, court managers and IT professionals came together in Sacramento last week to find new ways to harness technologies to offer better service and access to the public.

Governor Gavin Newsom signed a budget that includes $1.2 billion in new funding for the judicial branch, including restoring $200 million in previous cuts and making major investments in judicial branch programs improving access to justice.

While the model has helped equalize funding gaps across counties, chronic underfunding of the judicial branch has complicated its rollout.

Videoconference technology helps deliver self-help services remotely and increases a court's outreach.