Judges concerned about lack of courtroom space

Oct. 4 meeting set...

POLSON -- District Judges Kim Christopher and C. B. McNeil are increasingly concerned with their inability to provide justice for the citizens of Lake County because of insufficient courtroom space.

According to them, the problem is far larger than just the 20th Judicial District.

Almost every agency located within the Lake County Courthouse, and a number of state agencies that serve the citizens of Lake County, are similarly strapped for space, the judges report.

They feel the time has come for the citizens of Lake County to determine the future. The first step, they said, is to fully understand the extent of the problem.

There will be a meeting with the Lake County Commissioners on Wednesday, Oct. 4, at 2:30 p.m. At that meeting, several county department heads are expected to voice their concerns over the issues facing their departments.

Here are some examples of the county's space shortage:
-the Office of the Public Defender cannot find an adequate location for their offices;
-the Probation and Parole Department has been forced from their office spaces;
-Youth Court Services is now located in what was formerly much-needed storage space;
-the Elections Office is in a location that makes it hard for voters to exercise their most fundamental right;
-and the Lake County Attorney's Office hasn't seen a full-time increase in staff for 20 years and has nowhere to put the people they need to prosecute the county's current crime load.

Perhaps of the most concern, the judges said, is that the Lake County Detention Facility has insufficient space to house all those sentenced to jail time. As a result, DUI offenders are too often turned away and the Sheriff's Department cannot serve warrants already in the system.

The 20th Judicial Districtmust now frequently schedule civil trials more than a year in the future, and there is a ever- present concern over the Court's ability to guarantee a speedy trial to those accused of criminal offenses.

Judges Christopher and McNeil feel that although the county commissioners have done what they could and used every band-aid at their disposal, the simple fact is that the Lake County Courthouse, originally built in 1929, is bulging at its 21st century seams.

The two judges point to this quote to bring home the issue:
"Justice delayed is justice denied."- William Gladstone