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SD.3

To:	Board of Supervisors
From:	John Gioia, District I Supervisor
Date:	February 24, 2009

Contra

Costa

County

Subject:

Naming the Richmond Courthouse as the "George D. Carroll Courthouse"

APPROVE	OTHER
RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR	RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE

Action of Board On: 02/24/2009

APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED

OTHER

Clerks Notes:

VOTE OF SUPERVISORS

AYE:

John Gioia, District I Supervisor
Gayle B. Uilkema, District II Supervisor
Mary N. Piepho, District III Supervisor
Susan A. Bonilla, District IV Supervisor
Federal D. Glover, District V Supervisor

Contact:

510-374-3231

I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors on the date shown.
ATTESTED: February 24, 2009
David Twa,

BY:	, Deputy

RECOMMENDATION(S):

APPROVE the naming of the Richmond Courthouse at 100 - 37th, Richmond, the “George D. Carroll Courthouse” and AUTHORIZE a joint County-Superior Court dedication of this renaming at the Richmond Courthouse at an appropriate time this year.

FISCAL IMPACT:

No Fiscal Impacts

BACKGROUND:

Several Courthouses in the County are named after individuals, both living and deceased. The State of California recently decided to name the new East County Courthouse (funded and constructed by the State) the Richard E. Arnason Justice Center.

BACKGROUND: (CONT'D)

Other county courthouses named after former judges, both living and deceased, are the Wakefield Taylor Courthouse, Spinetta Family Law Center, and the A.F. Bray Building.

George D. Carroll was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1923 and is a veteran of World War II. He started his legal career in the District Attorneys’ Office in Kings County (Brooklyn), New York. He moved to Contra Costa County in 1954 and continues to be a resident of Richmond to this day.

Judge Carroll has provided outstanding and exemplary service to the people of Contra Costa County, and Western Contra Costa County in particular, over a long and distinguished career. Judge Carroll held prominent public positions from 1961 to 1985 and is a pioneer in advocating legal and political representation for persons of color in Contra Costa County.

Judge Carroll achieved many “firsts” in his career. He was the first African-American to practice law in the City of Richmond. He was the first African-American elected to the Richmond City Council (serving from 1961 to 1965) and to be elected Mayor of Richmond (in 1964). He was also the first African-American mayor of a large American city.

In 1965, he became the first African-American judge in Contra Costa County. Judge Carroll served on the bench of the Richmond Municipal Court from 1965 to 1977 and on the Bay Municipal Court from 1977 to his retirement in 1985. He served six terms as the Presiding Judge of the Bay Municipal Court.

Judge Carroll was also a founding member of the Judicial Council of the National Bar Association (The nation's oldest and largest national association of predominately African American lawyers and judges) and a member of the Charles Houston Bar Association, California Judges Association, American Bar Association, American Judicature Society, World Association of Judges of the World Peace Through Law Center, Board of Governors of the United Bay Area Crusade, Richmond Boys’ Club, and the Neighborhood House of North Richmond.

There are letters of support in favor of naming the Richmond Courthouse after Judge George Carroll from the following individuals and organizations:

State Senator Mark DeSaulnier
State Senator Loni Hancock
Mary Ann O’Malley, Presiding Judge of the Contra Costa Superior Court
David Coleman, Contra Costa Public Defender
Robert Kochly, Contra Costa District Attorney
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) – Contra Costa
Joshua Genser, former President of the Richmond Chamber of Commerce and lawyer in
private practice in Richmond
Richmond City Council unanimous resolution
Black American Political Action Committee of Contra Costa Coumnty