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Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Ind. Courts - Editorial details pros and cons of creating Fort Wayne city court

Updating yesterday's ILB entry, the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette today has an editorial looking at the pros and cons of establishing a city court in Fort Wayne. Some quotes [Emphasis added by ILB]:

The Henry administration wants to follow the lead of New Haven and, more recently, the Indianapolis suburb of Fishers, by creating a city court that would hear cases regarding violation of city traffic laws and local ordinances. New Haven will bring in about $2 million from the court this year, but the much larger Fort Wayne receives only about $250,000 to $300,000 in revenues from the state courts for city ordinance violations.

Considering city police and other city employees enforce those ordinances, bringing that revenue back to the city makes sense.

And creating new judicial programs to help target revenue is hardly unique. Allen County’s infraction-deferral program results in motorists paying the same amount for fines as pleading guilty, with the money directed to local governments rather than the state.

But there are problems with the proposal that will very likely not be surmounted in the 18 days before the law must be passed to create the court in time to place the judge on the 2011 ballot.

State law requires a city court judge be a resident of the city. That’s it. At the very least, a judge should be a licensed attorney who has not only passed the bar but also must remain current in education. Whether the city could adopt a home rule law with a tougher restriction is worth study, but such a requirement would probably necessitate a change in state law.

This comes as the Indiana Supreme Court and state judicial leaders are calling for an end to city and town courts as part of an effort to boost the judiciary’s professionalism. At the same time, some state legislators sympathetic to the financial woes of Indiana’s cities and towns are proposing other ways to make sure municipalities get revenue from fines, possibly through appointment of a hearing officer or commission.

Another limitation is that city courts are not courts of record. That means if a defendant wants to appeal a ruling, the case gets bounced to a county-level court and essentially starts again from scratch – making the city court proceeding a literal waste of time.

But the biggest limitation is the calendar. State law requires city courts be adopted in the year before a municipal election, so a candidate running for judge in 2011 would assume office in 2012. If not adopted this year, that would mean the earliest a city court could begin is 2016, with a judge elected in 2015.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 14, 2010 10:45 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts