Monroe County to get 2 new courts

The County Council will vote at 5 p.m. tonight on whether to send a budget proposal for a new court to the state, cutting almost $200,000 off the original estimate of just under $1.7 million. \nThe State Department of Local Government Finance still has to approve the proposal, and there is "no guarantee," said Mark Stoops, president of the County Council.\nThe Indiana General Assembly approved the creation of two new courts in Monroe County, one in 2006 and another in 2008, after the Circuit Court judges submitted information to the state showing the county's courts were overloaded with cases. \nEven with two extra courts, the caseload is so high that the county "probably needed more," Stoops said. "There isn't enough attention paid to individual cases because of time."\nThere will be no need for extra taxes to create the courts. The $1.5 million will come from a $1.8 million fund originally used to pay off the bond for the Justice Building and which has recently been used to fund other capital projects. \nThe other $300,000 will fund a program called Options for Better Living that helps people with disabilities live a more self-reliant lifestyle, said Brandon Knight, a Monroe County deputy financial auditor.\n"People won't see a difference in their bill because of this," Stoops said. "It is a tax increase in one area and a decrease in another."\nThe creation of the courts could help decrease costs in other places and relieve the overcrowding in jails as many of those facing trial remain incarcerated.\nAbout 70 to 80 percent of the people in the County Correctional Center are there waiting for trial, Stoops said. The money needed to fund the correctional center accounted for about 10 percent of the county budget in 2005.\nThe new court will oversee a mix of both criminal and civil cases. When determining the cost of the courts, the county council assumed the new court would handle the same mix of criminal and civil cases as the other seven courts combined, Stoops said.\nThe first court will be built in what is now the public defender's office, moving the office to the Curry Building. \nThe cost for the first court breaks down into $1.2 million for personnel, $27,000 for supplies, $60,000 for other services and $206,000 for furniture and renovations.\nThe public defender's office will hire two new deputy public defenders and a secretary for costs of $120,000. The prosecutor's \noffice also needs two new attorneys and a secretary for about the same price tag.\nThe single largest expense is $225,000 for six new probation officers. That is down from the $300,000 the probation department requested. The county will offer a lower salary and the probation officers will not be as "far along in their career," Stoops said.\nTwo other large cuts were $40,000 worth of office equipment for the new court and $8,500 worth of new computers for the clerk's office. The correctional center is also receiving only one new employee instead of the requested two, saving $26,000.\nMonroe County hasn't added a new court for 20 years, and it will get another one in 2008. The second court should cost slightly less than the first court, but not by much, Knight said.\n"Next year we'll go through the same process again," Stoops said.