MEMO

TO: Mayor and Board of Trustees
FROM: Cheryl A. Shiber, Village Manager
SUBJECT: Abolishment of Village Justice Court
DATE: November 25, 1997

In my hiring contract, research into possible consolidation of services with the Town was listed as a "goal" for my employment. During the $MART Review process of both the Town and the Village, consolidation of the Courts was identified as an area which if consolidated, had the potential to benefit both the Village and the Town. This is primarily due to the fact that, according to the Town and $MART Review, the Town presently has the capacity to handle a significantly increased caseload with their present employees and overhead. With the additional caseload would come additional fines which would constitute a benefit to the Town. Elimination of the overhead, supplies and personnel costs of our court would constitute the benefit to the Village.

PROCESS:

According to Village Law, dissolution of the Village Court can be achieved via a resolution of the Village Board, such action being subject to permissive referendum. If a Village does not have a court, the Town would assume those responsibilities. If the Village Board wishes to abolish the Court action should be taken in December [emphasis in original], since the justice is up for election in March. The resolution of abolishment would not take effect for thirty days, provided a permissive referendum is not received. For details on the process, please refer to the attached memo from Michael Davidoff.

FINANCES:

Attached is a graphical representation and a breakdown of the expense to the Village for running the courts, as well as revenues received from fines. Expenses include all overhead and personnel costs, with the exception of the maintenance of the building. A preliminary estimate from Glen Smith indicates that over the next 5 year[s], $35,000 will need to be invested in the building for general maintenance. Also, if the court is abolished, the youth division could move downstairs, thus eliminating ongoing fire code issues and handicap access issues with the youth division. As you can see, the court has never been a profitable venture. Recently, there has been a significant downward trend with respect to fines collected and an upward trend with respect to expenses. Incidentally, fines colected as a resulf of Village Code violations would remain the property of the Village. However, most of the vehicle and traffic fines would go to the Town.

Although operating a justice court is not intended to be a profit making venture, the Village "loses" money every year by operating the court. Since the Town is required to provide the service if the Village doesn't have it, unless there is reason to believe that the service provided by the Town would be inferior, it makes sense to give the issue serious consideration.

OPERATIONAL CONCERNS:

The Police Chief does not foresee any problems associated with the dissolution of the Village Court, aside from the glitches that could be expected with any change of this magnitude.

Concerns that perhaps our cases may not be scheduled to convenience of our officers and prosecutor have been raised. Representatives from the Town have indicated that this concern can be remedied by working with the Town Justices on the court schedule.

CONCLUSION:

If the Village Court is abolished, the Village would be relieved from an expense, yet the service would still be provided. A "consolidated" court should run more efficiently due to economies of scale and any savings, whether it be reflected in the Village or Town tax, would have a positive impact on village residents.

If there is any other information you will need prior to making a decision on this matter, please let me know.

[Table not available.]

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opposing brief