Yes, the rumors are correct. The Redondo Beach City Attorney has finalized an agreement with Hermosa to prosecute all misdemeanor offenses and code enforcement cases within its borders. The service agreement reportedly will cost Hermosa 200,000.00 per year as part of a flat fee. There is a push to persuade the Torrance Court officials to allow both cities to be located in the same division of the courthouse, now the respective cities are in separate courtrooms, division 2 and division 5 respectively.

The agreement ends a bidding process that included a number of private law firms that sought to provide legal services for criminal prosecution. The bulk of the charges filed and litigated by the city are “quality of life” crimes such as urinating in public, public intoxication, noise violations and DUI. All felony crimes are referred to the Los Angeles District Attorney.

The agreement also includes the use of TAP attorneys to prosecute cases filed by the municipality. TAP is an acronym for trial advocacy program and allows large civil law firms to volunteer their lawyers to act as prosecutors in some case. The idea is that the participants get valuable legal courtroom training and in return the city gets a free lawyer. Both Redondo and Hermosa have used this program extensively over the years.