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# Misdemeanor cases move to Airport Courthouse, shifting costs to Santa Monica
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/031104-story/
- Published: 2004-03-11T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T03:59:51.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Government & Politics, Santa Monica Airport, #archive-import

The criminal cases, including all of City Hall’s prosecutions for misdemeanors, will soon be moving from Santa Monica to the Airport Courthouse near LAX in an effort to save the county $500,000 a year.

But the move will increase costs for City Hall and the local police department. Though the costs are unknown, it could be upwards of $300,000 to place lawyers full time at the Airport Courthouse and transport prisoners from Santa Monica Jail to the new location.

So this week Q-line wants to know, “Do think it’s fair that Santa Monica should absorb the costs in an effort to balance the county budget?”

Call (310) 285-8106 with your response before Friday at 5 p.m. We’ll print them in the March 13-14 weekend edition. Please limit your comments to a minute or less. It might help to think first about the wording of your response.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 11, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/031104.pdf?ref=smdp.com)