Judges concerned over what could replace district court for Shoreline

Published 11:22 am Friday, February 22, 2008

SHORELINE — Since the city incorporated in 1995, Shoreline has contracted with King County District Court to handle all misdemeanor crimes and city code violations, domestic violence and probation cases, DUIs and traffic cases for the city. These cases have been handled by district court judges at the Shoreline Division District Courthouse, on Meridian Ave.

While the city doesn’t pay the county for these services, in 2002 the city brought 7,600 cases to district court, which produced about $1 million in revenue. Of that revenue, 32 percent went to the state, 51 percent to the county and the city of Shoreline got to keep about 17 percent, or $162,750, said Eric Swanson, an analyst for Shoreline.

County Executive Ron Sims has said that by providing these court services to cities that don’t have municipal courts, the county is subsidizing these cities, by a total of $3 million a year, and it’s not fair for cities that have their own courts. The county plans to terminate these contracts by 2005.

Facing a $26 million budget deficit for the next two years makes cutting this subsidy necessary, said Karen Reed, of Sims’s office.

Shoreline could respond by doing one of three things, Sims said in a press release. The city could establish its own municipal court, set up a municipal court within the district court system, or join with other cities to provide court services together.

If Shoreline follows the route Lake Forest Park took and establishes its own municipal court, the city would face all the start-up costs associated with building a municipal court from the ground up. It would also get to keep more of the revenue the court produces.

Lake Forest Park has operated its own municipal court since it incorporated in 1961, and the city gets to keep almost 50 percent of the revenues its court generates each year, versus Shoreline’s 17 percent, said Lake Forest Park municipal court judge Linda Portnoy.

If Shoreline creates its own municipal court, it would take almost half of the caseload away from District Court, said Shoreline District Court Judge Robert Wacker. Sims has said he expects, with the termination of the city contracts, the county would only need 14.4 district court judge rather than the 26 it has. Then the county could consolidate from nine to three District Court houses— which might mean the closure of the Shoreline District Court house.

This decision by the county could also lead to the proliferation of municipal courts every three or four miles and the duplication of services, said Shoreline District Court Judge Doug Smith.

“Despite what Ron Sims says, we don’t think it’s cost effective at all — especially for the taxpayers,” Smith said. “And the more courts you have, the more confusing it gets.”

Added Wacker: “Judicial independence is also a concern.” State law dictates that municipal court judges that are part-time, serving under 34 hours, be appointed by the mayors and city councils. Full-time judges are elected. Swanson said based on current caseload figures, Shoreline doesn’t have enough caseload for a full-time judge.

“A state Supreme Court study showed that because of so many tight ties between municipal offices and the courts, appointed judges don’t feel independent of the municipality,” Wacker said.

Judge Portnoy, who was appointed by Mayor Dave Hutchinson and approved by the Lake Forest Park city council said judicial independence is not an issue.

“In Lake Forest Park, the court is an independent branch of government with a sense of accountability to the community. I don’t have any pressure from the city council,” Portnoy said. She pointed out that concern over judicial independence can go both ways, whether you are elected or appointed judge.

“You’re telling me (district court judges) don’t have pressure from Ron Sims, or don’t worry about getting reelected?” she said.

The second option Shoreline could take after the county court contract ends would be to set up a municipal court department within the district court system, using district court judges. This option would have the city paying for the court services, and picking up expenses such as clerical and clerk work, judges salaries, jury coordination, and probation services, said Wacker.

He points out that this option would secure that the district court judges, elected from the community, are contracted for these services.

But this option also has the city picking up many additional costs without seeing the revenues, Swanson said.

A third option would be for the city of Shoreline to combine offering judicial services with other cities through an agreement, creating what’s been called a mega-municipal court system, or “mega-munis.”

The Snohomish County cities of Arlington and Lake Stevens have formed a “mega-muni” court system by contracting with Marysville for municipal court services, but judges are questioning the legality of such a system because it gives a judge elected in one area jurisprudence over another area.

A bill is being considered in the Senate that would back cities’s ability to form these kind of court contracts.

Joining with other cities to combine municipal court services appeals to cities because it would give them the chance to cull resources, recoup some expenditures and have more flexibility in scheduling and accessibility, Swanson said.

“We could form a combined municipal court with another city and take all the traffic issues and have them heard by an appointed commissioner or attorney, leaving the judge to handle the more serious misdemeanor offenses. The commissioner could work the hours of, say 4 to 8 p.m.” — times that are more convenient and accessible to the public, he said.

Mega-muni courts concern district court Judge Steve Dwyer, president-elect of the District and Municipal Court Judges Association, who also sits on the state Board for Judicial Administration.

“It doesn’t make sense for people of Shoreline to contract with another city, say Kirkland municipal court judge to be their judge, than for them to contract with the city of Kirkland for their mayor to be Shoreline’s mayor. In both cases they won’t participate in choosing who it is that’s leading that branch of government,” Dwyer said.

Mega-muni courts would also further bankrupt the district court system, he added, because they would handle all the types of cases that result in the receipt of revenue like city criminal misdemeanors and traffic infractions. The district courts would be handling those same cases for unincorporated areas, but would also be left with handling what Dwyer calls “the revenue hemorrhaging cases” for everyone else, like small claims court, civil collection cases, traffic collision cases, civil anti-harassment orders and civil domestic violence cases— cases that municipal courts are not authorized to handle.

“It’s an economically catastrophic path (for district courts),” Dwyer said. “Sims will still have a district court, with the cases that cost money in the end. He’s viewing it only in terms of expenditures, not revenues.”