Sean C. Morgan
Sweet Home Municipal Court officials don?t expect too many changes as they deal with the reduction of one court clerk, but it will take time to see exactly how much of an impact the cut creates.
The municipal court will have no changes in hours, Clerk Donna Poirier said. The court will go back to holding session two weeks of the month. Instead of four.
Arraignments will be held on the first and third Thursday of each month, with trials held on the first and third Tuesdays.
Court dates may vary some based on the judge?s and city attorney?s schedules, Finance Director Pat Gray said. Gray is the city?s supervisor for court employees.
The city council approved a 2004-05 budget last week that cut court services to help retain full funding for the police department. The department, along with the library and city?s general fund, had a revenue shortfall this year based on declining property values. The council made up more than $200,000 out of the general fund to maintain police services.
Municipal Court had two clerks and one accounting clerk. The city reduced the court budget by about $50,000 to $151,000 for 2004-05. It laid off one of the court clerks, Molly Laycock, who moved to the building division as an office specialist under union bumping provisions.
Sweet Home?s court will continue to meet its caseload, Gray said. ?We?re not like Portland. We?re not slacking up,? but the court is reorganizing.
Some responsibilities will shift within the office, Poirier said. Jodi Pickle will become a court clerk I, and Poirier will become a court clerk II. Both are new designations with no change in pay or classification.
Pickle will be able to serve as a violations bureau and deal with traffic violations only. Until she has been trained, Poirier will be the only one able to deal with traffic violations outside of the courtroom.
?It just expedites the process,? Poirier said. ?It keeps us from clogging up, like Portland and Clackamas County.?
Gray has been working in the court office, ?getting an understanding of the process, so that when Donna goes on vacation or they get busy, I can come down here and fill in,? Gray said. As a supervisor, she believes she needs to be able to do the job. Right now, she is spending about two hours a day in the court office.
The city continues to work on reducing workloads at the court office and the Police Department. A link between the two offices is nearly complete. It will allow the department to send traffic citations electronically to the court and the court to send dispositions to the department.
Court workers will gain access to the state Law Enforcement Data System through the connection as well.
Court personnel have been working with police to find ways of doing things more efficiently as well, Gray said.
Moving into the next fiscal year, the court workers? goal is that ?you shouldn?t see any difference,? Gray said. There may be some days of inconvenience, but generally, it should run smoothly.
?We?re just doing our best to make the best of situation,? Poirier said. ?We?re willing to go forward with what it takes.?
Time will tell if the court staff can do it with the resources that remain, Gray said.
?A lot of that will depend on our case load,? Poirier said. ?We?re doing the best we can, and it?s really too soon to tell what the impact will be.?