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Thursday, March 01, 2007

Ind. Courts - Still more on: State's high court to hear Clark battle over fees

Here is the long list of prior ILB entries on the dispute between the Clark County judges and the county council over the control of probation user fees. Oral arguments before the Supreme Court took place Dec. 14, 2006. No opinion has yet issued. A new entry was added to the docket Tuesday:

2/27/07 NOTICE THAT CLARK COUNTY'S CLAIM OF FISCAL EMERGENCY IS NOW MOOT (6) CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE (2) MAIL. JS
What is this about?

Ben Zion Hershberg explains today in the Louisville Courier Journal:

A fiscal crisis that was cited as a central issue in the long-running legal dispute between Clark County judges and the county council no longer exists, the [Clerk County] judges have told the Indiana Supreme Court.

As a result, the [Clerk County] judges said in a notice Tuesday, the council should repay an estimated $1.5 million in probation user fees that it has appropriated since the dispute arose. The fees are collected by the local courts.

But Mark Crandley, a lawyer for the council who argued the case in December before the Supreme Court, where it is still pending, said he doesn't believe the judges' notice will affect the case.

"It's undisputed" that Clark County government was experiencing a fiscal crisis in 2003 and 2004, the time that the case primarily is based on, Crandley said, and he doesn't think the Supreme Court will consider more recent developments.

The judges' lawyers, Karl Mulvaney of Indianapolis and David Lewis of Clark County, said in the notice that the council's fiscal crisis claim is now moot because in December the county received $4.4 million in supplemental income tax revenue from the state, relieving any financial strain.

In 2003, the council decided to start using about $500,000 in probation fees collected each year by the four county courts to pay court expenses previously covered by the county's general fund.

The judges filed suit against the council in 2005, arguing that state law gives them -- and not the county council -- the authority to determine how to spend probation user fees.

The council argued that it was forced to take control of the probation funds because of the fiscal crisis and that state law allowing local courts to collect and use probation fees can be interpreted to give the council authority over the funds.

The council has continued to exert its control over the fees by using them in the county budget for this year.

In March 2006, a special judge appointed to handle the case ruled in favor of the judges, saying the council had violated state law when it appropriated fees that were collected and controlled by the courts.

The council appealed the decision and, after an unsuccessful mediation, the Supreme Court heard arguments Dec. 14.

Lewis and Mulvaney contend that the Supreme Court should now decide the case based on the law establishing the local courts' right to collect and use the fees, rather than the fiscal crisis arguments.

"I don't think it's likely the appeal will be dismissed" as a result of the change, Lewis said. But he said he hopes it will lead the Supreme Court to focus on interpretations of the law related to probation user fees.

Lewis said he believes county judges and councils statewide are waiting for a decision on such issues to guide their relationships. * * *

Crandley and Lewis said a decision is expected in the spring.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 1, 2007 12:03 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts