Task force offers changes in local courts system

By Tompkins Weekly Staff

The Municipal Courts Task Force, which over the past year has been engaged in a careful and intensive examination of the town and village justice system in Tompkins County, is moving forward with recommendations for structural and operational changes that would improve efficiencies and the quality of justice provided by the county’s municipal courts.

The task force early last year was charged by the Tompkins County Council of Governments to assess ways to improve efficiency and to reduce costs through structural realignments of the county’s courts.

Further, the task force was asked to ensure that any such realignments did not diminish the quality of justice and to determine whether specific and cost-effective structural changes would improve the overall quality of justice within Tompkins County.

Meeting earlier this month, task force members reached informal consensus in support of a specialized DWI Court, as part of the Tompkins County Court, with a superior court judge presiding. If implemented, this change would remove from all town, village and city Courts all cases related to driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Ithaca City Court Judge Scott Miller, a member of the task force who has operated a similar DWI Court as part of Ithaca City Court, said he sees such a specialized court as “absolutely necessary” to deal effectively with the unique issues and complexity of DWI cases. He said the dynamic of bringing together those from all walks of life who are charged with DWI produces a “very powerful common thread” that he believes has a clear deterrent effect.

Miller estimated that a county DWI court could handle about 200 cases per year. Yet to be determined is where the resources would come from to manage that caseload.

Task force members were split on another potential structural change discussed—diverting all local misdemeanor cases from the justice courts to County Court, essentially creating a single criminal court in Tompkins County.

Reflecting on the issue, task force chair Ray Schlather said that, while he values the town and village courts and their history as a reflection of “grassroots justice”, he has concerns about the course of the task force’s investigation regarding some “unevenness of justice” meted out among the town and village courts.

Schlather believes that a system diverting misdemeanor cases from the justice court system to the superior court level would help to balance the administration of justice countywide.

Several members noted that recourse already exists for defendants charged with a misdemeanors whose cases are before a non-lawyer judge in justice court to petition to remove that case to County Court.

Tompkins County District Attorney Gwen Wilkinson said she needs more information before recommending establishment of a more centralized system. She said the existing provision of removal of cases to County Court protects the interests of defendants.

Justices Glenn Galbreath (Village of Cayuga Heights) and Betty Poole (Town of Enfield) said they were “adamantly opposed” to a centralized system, maintaining it would be too costly and would add a new level of bureaucracy.

Galbreath said that centralization may be “trying to fix a problem that doesn’t exist.” Poole suggested that considering such a change runs contrary to the task force’s charge, which she said called for consideration of cost-effective solutions, and that consideration of a centralized system, at an increased cost, seeks to “tear down the justice court system, instead of seeking ways to repair it.”

Task force recommendations, she said, should focus on changes that would make the existing system work better.

Several elements, in such areas as court scheduling, bail parameters, and levying of fines, previously have been discussed as “best practice” recommendations that could be included in the task force report.

Noting that the lack of consensus on any critical recommendation of the task force would not be politically persuasive, and given the clear split of opinion by the membership on the issue of a single countywide court at this time for all criminal cases including misdemeanors and felonies, Schlather suggested that at minimum the task force should identify such a cost-effective centralized court system as an aspiration for the future.

A final report from the task force will be delivered to the Council of Governments on or about June 1.