HomeMy WebLinkAbout1975 12-02 Plan to reduce urban courts criticized DISPATCH A tt,)
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Plan to reduce
and LINDA OWEN Judge Kirby said he can see.
Staff Writers advantages to the consolidation
proposal.
A proposal to reduce the num- "If we did consolidate," he
ber of Ramsey County suburban said, "it would cut down thee
>Zunicipal courts from five to judge time moving around
two may be the first step toward 3 coConsolidation,
oty.
one county court, in downtown bestwhe added, may
St. Paul, suburban city officials ue the cway to preserve the
suspect. suburban courts.
"Good facilities are a lot more
"IT'S ANOTHER one of the sure to keep the courts in the
many, many movements that are suburbs," he said. "It would
entrench the thing and get it es-
wiping out local government
and responsiveness of govern- tablished."•
ment to the people," Maple- Kirby praised the facilities at
wood Mayor Robert Bruton as- Maplewood's
praised hall e
sects. p ewood's city and the
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quarters at the new Roseville
And Judge John Kirby, who City Hall. New Brighton and
w a s Maplewood's municipal White Bear Lake have "very
limited" facilities, he said, and
judge for a decade before the
municipal courts became part of North St. Paul has "nice space"
the Ramsey County system last but, "Their caseload is very
January, agrees that suburban small."
officials' fears may be justified. However, North St. Paul offi-
"There is just a sentiment that
it (court activity) should all be
down there(St.Paul),"he said.
But, he added, "That would
be wrong and contrary to the
spirit of the Ramsey County
court act. It would be unfair to
move it all down there."
THE PROPOSAL to reduce
the number of suburban courts
was put forth recently by Coun-
ty Commissioner Tony Danna,
who wants to bring it to the
state legislature for action this
coming session.
The most likely survivors of
the consolidation would be the
Roseville and Maplewood
courts, he said. The other subur-
ban courts are located at New
Brighton, North St. Paul and
White Bear Lake.
Danna's proposal has met
with almost universal opposi-
tion from suburban officials,
who say it will inconvenience
citizens who are unfortunate
enough to use the courts and
will increase costs to the subur-
ban cities. .
"WE'D BE violently opposed
to having the court removed
from New Brighton," Mayor
Gayle Bromander said, "primar-
ily because of the cost of send-
ing officers to a court in St. Paul
or somewhere else and having to
pay them by the hour, while
they sit and wait for court ap-
pearances."
• New Brighton City Manager
Thomas Lewcock added that any
savings to the county would be
"infinitesimal in terms of the
entire system," amounting only
to rent, which is $5,000 a year
for the New Brighton court.
Should all court activities be
moved to downtown St. Paul,
city officials said, there would
be parking problems and there
probably would be no night
court sessions.
Actually, according to Rose-
ville City Manager James Andre,
furor over the proposed consoli-
dation is"premature."
Andre, who represents subur-
ban city managers on a commit-
tee studying ways of improving
the county court system, said
consolidation is only one of sev-
eral alternatives being consid-
ered.
OTHER ideas being consid-
ered, he said, include locating
suburban court facilities away
from city halls, moving the en-
tire county court system into
downtown St. Paul or leaving
the system the way it is now.
•
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