City wants to split district court into two sections

Spokane officials put the county court system on notice Thursday, saying they want city residents charged with misdemeanor crimes to be heard by judges elected within city borders.

The Spokane City Council unanimously voted to request the change, which effectively would split the Spokane County District Court into two sections.

One part would have five judges elected countywide to hear civil cases and criminal cases from outside the city.

The other would have four judges elected citywide for criminal cases based within city limits.

The Spokane County Commission will make the final decision about the court’s future.

The council action, proposed earlier this month by Mayor Mary Verner, is an attempt to solve a legal crisis created when a state appeals court overturned the DUI convictions of two Spokane residents last month in a ruling that said Spokane County District Court judges had no authority to hear city cases.

“The court has spoken,” Verner said Thursday. “I want to be very proactive in responding to the appellate court’s decision.”

The court’s ruling has thrown into question the cases of thousands of people convicted of misdemeanor crimes from the mid-1990s through the end of 2006 – and perhaps beyond.

Thursday’s action does not end the quandary regarding past cases, but it could end further litigation over future cases.

Breean Beggs, the attorney who represented the men, said city laws created by city leaders should be enforced by judges elected within city limits.

“It would be no different than allowing county residents” to vote in a Spokane mayoral election, said Beggs, the executive director of the Center for Justice.

Spokane County District Court Judge Richard White, who testified at the council hearing, expressed concerns that splitting the district court could endanger judicial programs for domestic violence cases and for defendants who have mental health problems.

Spokane City Prosecutor Howard Delaney said those programs likely could be preserved, though they might have to be divided.

White, who will be the presiding judge of the district court in the new year, said district court judges should remain neutral on the plan.

Still, he added that no court has ruled against the district court agreement the city and county have operated under since the beginning of this year.

The city changed its contract with the district court for 2007 so that it is based on a different state law and similar to the agreement the city of Spokane Valley uses for its contract with the district court.

Delaney said that while the city believes it is acting legally under the new agreement, it could be susceptible to a challenge.

Moving toward city-elected judges would prevent further litigation, he said.

Beggs said he believes there’s no state law that would allow a city that needs a judge more than 35 hours a week to forgo the requirement for citywide elections.

A few years ago, former Spokane Mayor Jim West fought the district court to create a fully separate municipal court, arguing the need to comply with state law.

Verner said a separate municipal court would be much more expensive because it could force the city to build new court offices. That’s why she opted to propose a plan for city-elected judges within the county’s district court, she said.

Under her proposal, crafted by the city’s legal staff, the city would appoint four of the current district court judges to the municipal court bench. The new system would be effective July 1.

The four positions then would be elected citywide in 2010.

It’s unclear yet if Verner or the City Council would make the appointments.

Although state law appears to require municipal judges to be elected within city limits, it does not require the judges to live in the city.

Meanwhile, Spokane Valley officials say they stand by their agreement with the district court.

“We have looked at it,” Spokane Valley City Attorney Mike Connelly said. “We believe it does meet the statutory requirements.”