Wednesday, Sept. 16 marked the first time courts in Van Nuys, San Fernando and Chatsworth, as well as all superior courts across the state, closed for business in order to help the state cope with its budgetary problems. Mandatory furlough days were implemented earlier in the year, affecting most court employees, as well as workers at public universities, DMV offices, and other state agencies. But, according to Supervising Judge Richard Kirschner, the courts’ new closure days are technically not furloughs, because the entire courthouse is closing. Last spring, the legislature passed, and the governor signed, a plan to keep all superior court locations closed the third Wednesday of every month through June 16, 2010 as a cost-saving measure. The court closures will be treated as holidays for the purposes of scheduling hearings and calculating filing deadlines. There are no plans to have drop boxes for the purpose of filing documents when the courts are closed on third Wednesdays. Court closure dates are as follows: Oct. 21, 2009 Nov. 18, 2009 Dec. 16, 2009 Jan. 20, 2010 Feb. 17, 2010 March 17, 2010 April 21, 2010 May 19, 2010 June 16, 2010