Ex-Deputy Ventura City Attorney Held in Jail No-Show : Crime: Kenneth Makature is arrested at a psychological treatment facility in Oxnard.

A former deputy city attorney for Ventura was ordered held without bail on Monday after failing to show up earlier this month for a 30-day jail sentence he received for practicing law without a license.

Kenneth G. Makature was arrested on a bench warrant Friday afternoon by police at a psychological treatment facility in Oxnard, Deputy Dist. Atty. Matthew J. Hardy said.

“We had been looking for him until his wife faxed us a letter saying he was in a hospital somewhere,” Hardy said. “So we called his therapist and demanded to know where he was.”

Makature, 55, probably will face additional charges for failing to turn himself in at Ventura County Jail when ordered to do so last month, Hardy said.

He pleaded guilty to three counts of practicing law without a license in March after admitting he made court appearances in September while his license had been suspended for failure to pay his dues to the State Bar of California. His license was reinstated in October, but has since been suspended again because of the criminal convictions, a State Bar spokeswoman said.

Superior Court Judge Charles W. Campbell Jr. last month refused a defense request to reduce the charges to misdemeanor convictions, meaning Makature could be barred permanently from again practicing law in California. The State Bar will determine at a later hearing whether to allow Makature to practice law.

Makature’s is the first such felony conviction in Ventura County history, according to attorneys involved in the case. His office at 4478 Market St. in Ventura has been closed and his telephone disconnected.

Meanwhile, State Bar officials are trying to seize control of Makature’s private law practice. Attorneys plan to ask a judge next month for permission to enter the office and take possession of his case files so that his clients can be represented by other lawyers.

“We have declarations from an attorney and at least one client who have had a difficult time getting files,” said State Bar attorney Murray Greenberg, who will argue the case before Judge Richard D. Aldrich. “It is appropriate for the court to intervene at this time.”

Hardy said deferring Makature’s caseload to other attorneys would help him overcome whatever personal difficulties he has had.

“It’s for Mr. Makature’s own good,” Hardy said. “You need to take all that pressure off him so he can do whatever he needs to do to get back to being a productive human being.”

Makature, who worked as a deputy city attorney for the city of Ventura between 1981 and 1987, declined to be interviewed on Monday from Ventura County Jail.

He was arrested by Oxnard police on Friday at Pacific Shores Hospital, a private residential care facility that specializes in treatment of stress, anxiety and depression.

Deputy Public Defender Neil B. Quinn is representing Makature, but was not available for comment on Monday.

Makature was charged with practicing law without a license after he represented clients before Judge Allan L. Steele in September. The State Bar had suspended his license for the fourth time a month earlier after repeated warnings to pay his $478 annual State Bar dues, court records show.

Deputy Dist. Atty. J. Eric Bond signed a declaration in October that Makature missed court dates, appeared in court on other occasions under the influence of alcohol and mishandled some cases.

On Sept. 25, Makature refused Steele’s order to submit to a breath test to determine if he had been drinking, and said “the check is in the mail” when confronted about his suspension, according to court documents.

Makature will be evaluated by probation department investigators this week before another court appearance scheduled for Monday.