City seeks new court structure

Spokane Mayor Jim West wants the city to run its own municipal court.

West, Spokane County commissioners and Spokane County District Court officials met Tuesday afternoon for a tense discussion of the issue.

“We’re going to go our own way. We’ll be responsible for what happens,” West said, adding that he believes the city can save money by running its own court.

Commissioners scoffed at that idea. And judges at the meeting pressed for their own less radical reform proposal, saying they weren’t aware the city was so unhappy.

The judges’ plan would save the city about $160,000.

All three groups repeatedly promised to work with the others to come to a solution, even as they steadfastly refused to budge from their positions.

Since 1961, the city has contracted with Spokane County for district court services, although it has continued to operate its own public defender and prosecutor departments.

District court handles most misdemeanor cases as well as traffic infractions, while more serious cases are tried in Spokane County Superior Court.

A voter proposition to start a Spokane municipal court failed miserably in 1999.

Spokane officials have complained for some time that the district court is requiring the city to pay for more judges than is necessary to handle the city’s caseload. The argument is that less expensive court commissioners could be used to do more things cheaper.

“We think we could get by with fewer judges than under your contract. We know we could pay them less,” West told county commissioners.

By state statute, the city can’t withdraw from its district court arrangement other than according to a schedule dictated by district court judge elections. The latest the city could have notified the county of its intentions is Feb. 1, 2005. And the earliest they could leave is Jan. 1, 2007.

If the city had missed the Feb. 1 deadline, it would have to wait another four years.

But West notified the county in November of the city’s intention to start its own court.

In the interim, the city would prefer a new approach modeled after Tacoma, said West. Under that model, the city would have its own municipal court judges within the district court rather than sharing judges with the county and Spokane Valley.

If it works and the county agrees to it, the city could continue with that court model rather than starting its own court, West said.

On the other extreme, Commissioner Kate McCaslin said the city’s and county’s court operations should be completely consolidated. That would save taxpayers money by eliminating duplication of prosecutor and defender efforts, she said.

As it stands now, a city prosecutor and county prosecutor and a city defender and a county defender often all end up working with the same defendant since defendants often face multiple city and county charges.

“How stupid is that?” McCaslin asked.

“We know from the Valley experience that you don’t save money by separating governments. It costs more money,” she said later.

If the city starts its own court, the county will boot Spokane out of its courthouse, forcing it to find its own location, said County Commissioner Phil Harris. The county could use the space for Superior Court.

“They look at what it costs for the judge, but they forget the thumbtacks and the scotch tape,” said Harris.