Los Angeles County’s once-routine jail bus runs have turned into a daily scramble, with a shrinking fleet leaving defendants stuck in custody and missing scheduled court dates, according to lawyers and union representatives. One local public defender’s custody list shows repeated days when large shares of clients in custody never make it to a courtroom, a pattern attorneys say is feeding jail overcrowding and bogging down already slow-moving cases. The ripple effects have defense lawyers, judges and jail staff hunting for short-term workarounds while officials try to rebuild the county’s transport system.
As reported by ABC7, one custody list showed 27 of 42 clients missing their court dates on a single day, with other days logging similarly high tallies. Public defender union steward Karl Fenske told ABC7 that “the jail is not a place that’s safe for anybody,” and private attorney Lou Shapiro called the volumes of missed appearances “a disaster.” The outlet reports that the Sheriff’s Office estimates it needs roughly 80 buses to handle daily transports across the county.
A county system stretched thin
Moving people between jails, reception centers and courtrooms depends on a reliable bus fleet, but reporting by the Los Angeles Times found the department went years without adding new buses, leaving many of the aging vehicles increasingly difficult to keep on the road. At points, the Times found, fewer than half of the department’s roughly 82 buses were operable, giving staff almost no cushion for breakdowns, mechanic delays or emergency evacuations. Experts and officials told the paper that procurement decisions, budget choices and scarce specialty parts have all contributed to the crunch.
Why missed appearances matter
Those empty bus seats are not just a paperwork problem. Missed court dates can delay release decisions, stall enrollment in diversion or treatment programs and stretch out pretrial custody for people who may later be found eligible for release. AP reporting documented days when up to a third of people in county jails missed hearings because of transport problems, a pattern court officials said was fueling overcrowding. Defense attorneys and judges say the repeated postponements are undermining confidence in the court calendar and piling extra work onto already strained court staff.
What officials are doing
County supervisors approved the purchase of 20 buses in September 2023, and the County Department of Justice signed off on another 14 in February 2025. Deliveries are staggered, though, and older vehicles continue to be retired as they age out, ABC7 reports. Sheriff Robert Luna has pushed for remote appearances where possible and ordered deputies to record instances when inmates refuse to leave a cell so judges can see the reason for a “miss out.” Officials caution that even after all the new buses arrive, fully rebuilding the fleet will take years, leaving the department dependent on stopgap measures in the meantime.
Earlier fixes, persistent gaps
Hoodline’s reporting last August noted that recent vehicle purchases had begun to ease transport problems at some facilities, but attorneys say missed appearances still show up regularly in day-to-day custody logs. That gap between what is on paper in procurement approvals and what is happening on the ground helps explain why defense lawyers continue to press for emergency remedies and why court calendars remain unpredictable. Until the county’s transport network stabilizes, advocates say many defendants will keep paying the price in extra jail time and slower case resolution…