Travis Watson's case on calendar today was a waste of my time

 

My last update on murder suspect Travis Watson was that preliminary hearing in his 2026 and OR bail was scheduled for 6/25. That update and others on his case are in the May 5 post.

Last night, I see his 2025 case is on calendar this morning. It is just a review from his 2025 DV case. It was continued to 6/25. Why his open cases were not set on the same date before, I do not understand.

This is the kind of nonsense I waste my time on daily because Humboldt Superior Court cannot seem to do the most basic common sense efficient scheduling and time management. How hard is it to see if someone has more than one open case? I don't  have the access to e court that the judges, court staff, DA's office and attorneys have and I can see a list of open and closed cases.

Humboldt Superior Court Presiding Judge Kelly Neel is dealing with the disaster left from when Retired Judge Joyce Hinrichs and former judge Gregory Kreis who was ousted by the voters and who had to resign and can never seek judicial office as part of his deal with the Commission on Judicial Performance.

That is not just my opinion. It is shared by attorneys and Court employees. Our opinions are based on observations of how Humboldt Superior Court functions daily.

Kreis still practices as an attorney in Humboldt Superior Court and his wife is in charge of family law facilitators and self help. Current Humboldt Superior Court CEO Meara Hattan, I was told by more than one person at the Courthouse, has her job thanks to him. Previous Humboldt Superior Court CEOs Kim Bartleson and Kerri Keenan had their issues but the courts ran efficiently. Some of the new hires are hard workers and others are incompetent and as one courthouse employee told me, "If Kim was here, we would not have these DEI hires."

California government policies are part of the problem but the Humboldt workforce pool has always been slim pickings where the few with work ethics suffer.

It isnt just one case; it is par for the course. When I am checking on 40 cases a day; that adds up. I also have to wait for court minutes for multiple days. Some clerks are better than others and the ones that are better have the heaviest daily workload. 

Kayleen, the criminal court clerk supervisor, is the only one I see in the courtrooms, helping out and frequently. What exactly are the other supervisors doing in civil, in family and all these new managers? I see them walking around. Put them in the courtrooms, have them scan minutes and documents and they should work at the clerk's window on I street, if needed. Why are these managers not staffing the second floor before court opens at 8:30 and 1:30. People end up asking me questions while I am trying to check cases early morning. Files not making it to the judges for hearings. Court documents not scanned for weeks. Don't have deadlines and rules if you cannot get documents to the judges.

I see Humboldt Court Operations Manager Kelly Nyberg and Assistant Court Operations Manager Scott Anderson on the second floor early morning and all day helping people and answering questions. They have other operational and more pressing issues to deal with daily. 

Previous posts:

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2026/05/da-has-received-report-on-travis-watson.html?m=1#more

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2026/05/travis-watson-arrested-by-hcso-for.html?m=1

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2026/05/besides-mirandas-rescue-hcso-busy-with.html?m=1