By Rosalio Ahumada
Mod Bee
MODESTO — There seemed to be a little less waiting around last week in Stanislaus County Superior Court.
An elevator used to move jail inmates has been repaired, ending several months of delays as sheriff’s deputies used stairs and the courthouse hallways to get inmates to their hearings.
The elevator, which quickly moves defendants from the jail to the courtrooms, plays a huge role in the work done by bailiffs, defense attorneys, prosecutors and judges. Without it, the entire process slowed.
Attorneys and judges had to wait for defendants in custody as the inmates were brought up the stairs in groups. The bailiffs had to wait around for enough personnel to move the inmates safely up and down the stairs.
Some criminal cases scheduled at 8:30 a.m. were delayed into the afternoon because of the backup. Ruben Villalobos, a private defense attorney, said he experienced those delays, as did almost everyone else.
“It is nice that we now don’t have to wait all day,” Villalobos said.
The inmate elevator was installed in 1959 and had broken down before, but it was never out of commission this long. From October to late July, court officials used their contingency plan for moving the inmates.
Full story: Stanislaus court’s inmate elevator back in business