Hesperia, California
Hesperia, California, is in San Bernardino County, the southeastern part of CA, near the start of the Mojave Desert. The City of Hesperia is 8 miles south of Victorville, 15 miles north of San Bernardino, and 42 miles from Barstow. Hesperia sits alongside the major thoroughfare between San Diego and Los Angeles, California, and Las Vegas, Nevada, Interstate Highway 15.
The name Hesperia is thought to be a Greek word meaning "god of the west." Hesperia and the surrounding towns and open areas are often referred to by locals as "the high desert." Hesperia was incorporated as a city in 1988. The 2000 U.S. Census lists Hesperia with a population of 62,582; however, a community survey 3-year estimate shows an increase to 89,870.
The California Aqueduct, a man-made system that supplies southern California with drinking water, splits Hisperia from north to south, then heads underground to Silverwood Lake. Flowing north through the east side of Hesperia is the Mojave River.
The California court system has two basic types of courts, Trial and Appellate. Trial Courts, more commonly known as Superior Court, are based in each of CA's 58 counties. Superior Courts hear both civil and criminal cases in addition to all family, probate, and juvenile cases. For the city of Hesperia, Superior Court is at the San Bernardino County Courthouse at 351 N. Arrowhead Avenue. This is the location where all civil actions such as personal injury claims would be heard. San Bernardino County does have alternate court locations for criminal felonies and family law cases in Barstow, Fontana, Needles, Big Bear, Joshua Tree, Chino, Victorville, and Rancho Cucamonga, California, but Hesperia residents would be served by the Victorville Courthouse at 14455 Civic Drive, for these types of litigations.
The Appellate Court is divided into two branches: the Courts of Appeal and the Supreme Court. The Courts of Appeal are California's intermediate courts of review for the county-based Superior Courts. There are six Courts of Appeal serving the State of California. The City of Hesperia is served by the Second District Court of Appeals located in Los Angeles, CA. The highest authority in CA's judicial system is the California Supreme Court, headquartered in San Francisco.
The Judicial Council of California provides a helpful glossary of legal terms in multiple languages to assist citizens in understanding the judicial process.
The City of Hesperia, along with the surrounding suburbs of Oak Hills, Marianas Ranchos, and Summit Valley to the south, and the southern part of the city of Victorville to the northwest, are served by the Hesperia Unified School District. The District maintains 14 elementary schools, 3 middle or junior high schools and three senior high schools. Hesperia High School and Sultana High School carried an overloaded student body until fall of 2009 when the Oak Hills High School was opened.
Hesperia has a large selection of shopping centers and a good cross-section of nationwide chain stores and restaurants, as well as many more locally owned non-franchised businesses than average. This has created a restaurant diners' paradise with so many individually owned eateries each sporting unique local menus. Some of the more popular local venues are La Casita, Molly Brown's, Los Domingos, Spring House Restaurant, and The Outpost Cafe.
From 1988 until 2004, Hesperia had its own Fire Department serving the city. They now utilize the facilities of the San Bernardino Fire District to provide fire fighting protection, a move that has proven effective and an economic plus for the city balance sheet. Police patrol and law enforcement are handled by the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. They maintain a substation in the city and are backed up by additional sheriff's personnel from the Victorville Regional Station. Police coverage of the southern suburbs of Oak Hills and Marianas Ranchos is from the Sheriff's Department Hesperia location.
Hesperia youth have fully developed programs in basketball, soccer, baseball, and volleyball, thanks to the Hesperia Recreation and Park District. Modern, well-equipped fields and indoor facilities are numerous, and organized recreational programs abound year-round. There are classes for tap & ballet, karate, hula, tumbling, archery, line dancing, and a special Ready-Set-Play program for youth ages 4 & 5. Hesperia has a municipal swimming pool, public tennis courts and a rodeo arena.
Hesperia is home base for the Southern California Hardball Association, an adult baseball league that plays every Sunday during baseball season in Hesperia.
