June 4, 2026
To:
Asm. Tom Lackey
Asm. Jeff Gonzalez
Asm. Juan Carrillo
Asm. John Harabedian
Asm. James Ramos
Asm. Greg Wallis
Asm. Robert Garcia
Asm. Michelle Rodriguez
Asm. Leticia Castillo
Asm. Phillip Chen
Asm. Corey Jackson
Asm. Natasha Johnson
Asm. Kate Sanchez
Re: Judicial Funding Needs
On behalf of Inland Action, I am writing to request your support in funding judgeships for the Inland Empire including needs in both the San Bernardino Superior Court and Riverside Superior Court. These two counties, when combined, are the Inland Empire. This is the only region in the state of California that is projected to grow. In fact, the Inland Empire hit population projections for December 31, 2025, with a population of over 4.7 million.
That being said, this region has been one of the most underjudged areas in California. In San Bernardino alone, the unmet judicial need ranged from 57 needed judges in 2014 to 30 in 2022 and now stands at 26 in 2026. Riverside is also severely underjudged with 22 judgeships needed.
These numbers indicate that justice is delivered differently in San Bernardino County and Riverside County. When judges carry a caseload above 18% and significantly higher depending on their assignment than the statewide average, access to justice is delayed for the region. For the communities these two counties serve, this results in extended wait times for hearings, in some case types lasting up to a year, and reduced time before a judge, often for self-represented litigants who are navigating the court system for the first time.
While we recognize the state’s limited budget capacity, investing selectively in judgeships is a practical way to strengthen court operations and shorten delays more quickly than infrastructure projects. For this reason, Inland Action advocated this spring for $20M to be included in the budget to begin to address this need. We were pleased to see this incorporated into the Senate budget.
We are aware that this number has now increased to $44M in a recent revise. We thank Senator Reyes, Senator Bogh, Senator Seyarto, Senator Perez, Senator Laird, Senator Richardson, and many others beyond the Budget Committee that supported this budget item. We ask that the Assembly also support this budget need.
Inland Action is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that exists solely for the purpose of bringing awareness about the needs of the Inland Empire for both counties. We thank you for hearing our message and the judicial crisis that exists in our region.
Sincerely,
Julie Michaels
Executive Director
Cc:
Sen. Reyes
Sen. Bogh
Sen. Seyarto
Sen. Perez
Sen. Padilla
Sen. Rubio
Sen. Valladares
Sen. Cervantes
Sen. Laird
Sen. Richardson