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Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Ind. Courts - Clark County scuttles plan for 2 more judges

An AP story today reports:

JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. (AP) -- A split vote has scuttled a plan by a Clark County councilman to add two judges to try to reduce the number of cases each court handles.

Three Republican county council members, including its leading supporter Raymond Snelling, voted Tuesday to pursue the idea, but three Democrats voted against it. A fourth Council Democrat was absent.

Snelling had said the courts are overloaded and that other ideas also could help make the judicial system more efficient. They include consolidating the probation departments into a single office and expanding home-confinement programs.

County Prosecutor Steve Stewart has said the overburdened court system is contributing to a scheduling backlog at the county jail. * * *

The southeastern Indiana county's four elected judges and a part-time magistrate had the second-heaviest caseload of the state's 92 counties last year, according to the Indiana Judicial Service Report. The only county more taxed was Howard, which added a judge in January.

The data is based on the number of available judges and the number of cases, with certain serious crimes, such as murder, being given greater weight.

Clark County officials recently tried several times to expand court resources. In late 2004, the county approved an emergency expenditure of $20,000 to clear a paperwork backlog.

Adding more judges has also been discussed, although the county hasn't added a new elected judge since 1982.

See earlier ILB entry here, from July 4th.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on July 12, 2006 05:16 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts