Metropolitan Courthouse
Bail Bonds Guide

It is at 1945 South Hill Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007 — a Los Angeles Superior Court (state) building south of downtown near USC, not a federal court. The federal courthouses in Los Angeles are separate buildings downtown on First Street and Spring Street. The general telephone number for Metropolitan is (213) 745-3200.

Because the county's dedicated Mental Health Courthouse closed. On November 3, 2016, Los Angeles Superior Court shut down the Mental Health Courthouse at 1150 N. San Fernando Road in Cypress Park because of structural damage to the aging building's roof, and all of its operations, including hearings, were relocated to the Metropolitan Courthouse at 1945 S. Hill Street. That caseload has been carried here since.

Yes — it is the primary traffic court for downtown LA, handling very high volumes of traffic citations and DUI cases, plus overflow domestic violence matters. Its practical draw area covers roughly a five-mile radius around downtown, which pulls in Hollywood and West Hollywood cases as well.

The court lists a traffic clerk's office, an automated traffic line, a criminal clerk's office, a financial evaluator, an alcohol program office, a community service office, a jury assembly room, plus the LA City Attorney's Office, Public Defender, and Sheriff's Office on site. That mix reflects a courthouse built around high-volume traffic and criminal calendars alongside its mental health work.

No. Bail bonds are posted at the facility holding the defendant, not at a courthouse. For downtown and South LA bookings that means the Inmate Reception Center or Twin Towers at 450 Bauchet St for men, or Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood for women. We post at all of them, 24 hours a day.

The courthouse is open 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and the clerk's office is open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., except court holidays. Traffic clerk windows and department calendar times run on their own schedules within those hours.

Yes. Public parking is available for a fee in the parking structure, and metered parking is available on the surrounding surface streets. This is a real advantage over the downtown Civic Center courthouses, where on-site parking is scarce.

The court can order the bond forfeited and issue a bench warrant that day. There is a limited statutory window to bring the defendant back and have the forfeiture set aside before the surety faces summary judgment — and where a mental health issue caused the absence, documenting that quickly matters. Call us immediately.