The Corona Courthouse will be fully operational again to begin the new year, following a six-year closure resulting from budgetary constraints, Riverside County Superior Court officials announced Tuesday.
The two-room courthouse was closed in July 2012 to everything except traffic hearings on Fridays. But after more than six years of disuse, the facility will return to regular Monday-Friday business, starting Jan. 7, thanks to funding from the state, court officials said.
Both courtrooms will be available, with hearings on infractions, evictions, civil harassment and other claims between 7:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays.
“With the dramatic population growth occurring in Riverside County, and its proximity to Orange County, opening the Corona Courthouse will expand services to the many residents in the western portion of the county and elsewhere,” according to a Superior Court statement.
Funding shortfalls forced court executives to leave the two courtrooms dark in 2012. However, officials said that allocations in the 2018-19 state budget provided the funds necessary to keep the entire courthouse staffed.
The facility is adjacent to Corona City Hall on Buena Vista Avenue and has been part of the Superior Court system since 1998. Prior to that time, it operated as a municipal courthouse under county management.
The Corona Courthouse was built in 1975.