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Monday, October 02, 2006

Ind. Courts - Goshen City Court is losing money, and its future is in jeopardy

"Goshen City Court is losing money, and its future is in jeopardy" writes Tara Layne today in the Goshen News. More from the story:

In 2005, the court had an operational deficit of approximately $65,000. In previous years, the deficit was even greater.

Despite the deficit, Goshen Mayor Allan Kauffman said he feels city court provides an important service to residents, and he would like to see it continue.

The mayor wants Elkhart County officials to work with the city to come up with an agreement that will allow the court to continue in a way that will not be a huge property tax subsidy.

“From the aspect of services to residents and convenience to the police department, I would like to see it remain open,” Kauffman said.

He said Elkhart County Administrator Tom Byers has been in discussion with various elected county officials, but so far no agreement has been reached. Kauffman said that at a recent intergovernmental meeting with county officials, “it was clear they did not want to subsidize city court.”

Kauffman said he’d heard some judges have indicated they would like to see city court continued. If it’s not, the county will have to absorb the caseload and potentially hire more employees and find more space, he said.

Currently, the city is paying the salary of Judge Cecelia McGregor, who has not been working for several months because of medical reasons, and is also paying for referees — temporary judges — to do her duties.

However, Kauffman said he is not willing to make that an issue.

“I am a Democrat and she (McGregor) is a Republican. If I make it an issue, it is going to look political. I am not going to do that.”

Indiana State statute does not require cities to operate a city court and many cities no longer do so. Members of the Goshen City Council can vote to abolish the court and will consider that possibility at their Tuesday meeting. The decision must be made prior to an election year, so the council must take action on the matter by Dec. 31.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 2, 2006 02:20 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts