Siskiyou Courthouse, Part 4: The state giveth and tryeth to taketh away
Bob Kaster
The Septuagenarian Speaks
On July 12, 2016 Siskiyou County Superior Court Presiding Judge William Davis and Court Executive Officer Mary Frances McHugh had to perform a difficult and heart-breaking task. They had scheduled an emergency session with the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors to deliver some terrible news. The state was on the verge of taking away the funds designated for constructing the new courthouse in Yreka. Commencement of actual construction of the project was just weeks away; a $69 million project that would take two years to build. Planning for the project had been ongoing for more than a decade. Court CEO Mary Frances McHugh explained to the Board that the crisis was outside of the county’s control. The special fund used to pay the debt service funding 23 court construction projects statewide, created September 26, 2008 by Senate Bill 1407, came from fines collected