State court officers serve as personal parking valets for fellow court employees - helping colleagues get illegal spots on the sidewalk along Chinatown's Mulberry St., the Daily News has found.Last week, on a typical weekday morning, The News spotted 15 cars illegally parked on the sidewalk on both sides of Mulberry St. next to Columbus Park, the neighborhood's premier gathering spot for gossip, games and tai chi.When The News first arrived at 7:45 a.m. last Tuesday, bright orange cones lined the west side of the street, reserving the precious parking spots for court employees with special parking placards.When court employees arrived, one of the two state court officers sitting in an unmarked car would jump out and remove the cones. The drivers would then glide into their reserved spot, parking halfway on the sidewalk, which is illegal.Yesterday afternoon, The News spotted another eight cars with court placards parked illegally on the sidewalk."It's completely obnoxious," said Jan Lee, who owns a home-furnishings and antique store on nearby Mott St. "It's just a complete disrespect for an entire neighborhood."Confronted by The News, one court officer, who refused to give his name, said, "The street is so small. They're trying to avoid getting hit by trucks."One of the illegal parkers, who declined to give his name, said he "wasn't aware" it was illegal to park on the sidewalk. "We've been doing this for years," he said.David Bookstaver, a spokesman for the state Office of Court Administration, conceded yesterday that court employees are, indeed, parking illegally and that the situation will be stopped."The cars shouldn't be on the sidewalk and we'll look into it immediately," he vowed.As The News reported exclusively in March, scores of government employees regularly park illegally in Chinatown and the City Hall area, creating a safety hazard and hurting local businesses.Following The News' story, Mayor Bloomberg pledged to fix the problem, and, for some time, the city appeared to be cracking down. In recent weeks, the problem appears to be reemerging, locals and advocates say.Matthew Roth, an official with the Transportation Alternatives advocacy group, said the illegal parking slows emergency response times, forces pedestrians into harm's way and stymies deliveries in the neighborhood."When the worst abusers of parking privilege are the very agencies who are supposed to enforce parking laws, the city needs some serious introspection," Roth said.Stu Loeser, Bloomberg's press secretary, said, "The mayor believes nobody has the right to park illegally, and while court officers don't work for the city, they should follow city parking laws."Kay Sarlin, a spokeswoman for the city Department of Transportation, said during 17 days of targeted enforcement last month, the agency's parking control units issued nearly 900 summonses to illegally parked government vehicles in Chinatown."DOT is committed to working with the Chinatown community and the Police Department to eliminate illegal parking," she said.