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Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Ind. Courts - Update on: Marion County Traffic Court in the news today

The Oct. 6, 2009 ILB entry began: "It is like siting a landfill or a nuclear plant." But today Francesca Jarosz reports in the Indianapolis Star:

People cited for traffic violations soon will find relief from long lines and crowds that have plagued the state's busiest court.

On Monday, the City-County Council gave the Marion County traffic court the green light on a proposal to move from its cramped quarters inside a Far-Eastside police-training hub to a more spacious building about a mile away.
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The former Target store near East Washington Street and South Franklin Road could be converted into a more user-friendly court by October.

The new, 15,000-square-foot location, which will replace a 9,000-square-foot space, was the third site that court officials had proposed in their three-year hunt to find more room for the 1,000 people who go through the court daily.

Two attempts to find new spaces last year on the Westside were torpedoed by resistance from neighbors, who balked at the idea of a probation office that was initially planned to co-locate with the traffic court.

After the council rejected the second proposed site in October, Judge Bill Young, who oversees the traffic court, determined it would be too tough to find a location that worked for both services and sought a separate space for the traffic court.

City and court leaders are still working to finalize a location for the probation office.

Far-Eastside residents welcomed the traffic court proposal, which passed the council 27-2, because it will bring people and police officers attending court to the area. Councilman Ben Hunter, who represents the district where the court is located, said it would be a boon to nearby businesses.

"These folks are coming to the Eastside and going to eat breakfast and lunch along the Washington Street corridor," Hunter said. "It's (filling) a vacant building, and it will help out the area."

Young said the expanded digs with better facilities and more modernized equipment would help alleviate concerns that have been raised about the court.

A lawsuit filed in December targeted hefty traffic fines and court conditions, including its practice of banning the public from the courtroom, barring those with court dates from leaving during a session and locking the doors once court convenes. The plaintiffs later withdrew their federal claims, with plans to pursue the case in state court.

Young has blamed the need for such constraints on security concerns and tight space in the current location. All would be alleviated or addressed in a new, larger space designed with the court's needs in mind, he said. * * *

Among the changes will be the addition of kiosks, where people can pay traffic tickets and avoid the series of long lines they now have to navigate. A waiting area wired to the courtroom will allow people who can't fit into the courtroom to follow court proceedings on TV. And a security station at the door will allow people to be screened before they enter the building and go into and out of the courtroom.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on April 27, 2010 09:11 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts