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Show Circuit court will replace year-old Cedar city court I t-mr, s"'' if it NEW SYSTEM. Judge Christian Ronnow will soon be riding the circuit as one of two circuit court judges in the southwestern counties. As for the distribution of fines, Ronnow said the city in which the court is held will be getting 75-80 percent of all monies received. "The cities will be in a much better financial condition as a result," he said, "By losing the obligation to pay judges, being reimbursed and still retaining fees." Some oppose There are those in the legislature, however, who opposed and still threaten to oppose the circuit bill. Funding for the court system was not provided for by the last legislature, being dependent upon actions at an upcoming budget session. It will cost $2 million to set up, Ronnow said, and some legislatures have indicated they may not vote monies for it. Whether ornot a bill can be killed in such a way after it has passed the legislature is not certain, Ronnow indicated. The 9th circuit will have one of, if not the heaviest work load of any of the new circuits, Ronnow added. "There will be an almost automatic increase to the amount of help we will be giving the District Court," Ronnow said. "After it has been in operation for about two years the calendars will be far more current than they are today. That's one of the main thrusts of the bill." Ronnow, who has served as city judge since its inception, is a graduate of Cedar City's BAC and is a member of the Utah State Bar. Since leaving the military as a captain, he has also served as District Attorney in the Third Judicial District, Salt Lake City. Cedar City Court, established in March of 1976, will be dissolved after the first of the year, to be replaced by the new circuit court system as established by the last state legislature. Sitting as a judge on the new circuit court will be Christian Ronnow, present city judge. Ronnow said the new justice set-up will bring a great service to residents of southwestern Utah, as well as taking a load off the present District Court. "The circuit courts will make available the services of a law-trained judge in many smaller communities," com-munities," Ronnow explained. "In rural counties so many people don't have access to an adequate forum. Now more than half of those cases filed in District Court can be handled here." Help people, not judges The entire change, Ronnow stated, "is not designed to help the judges but designed to help the people." The circuit court bill from the legislature provides for the doing away with 27 city courts throughout the state and sets up the statewide misdemeanor court. Their civil case jurisdiction will involve cases up to $5,000 where the ceiling is $2500 in city court. The new circuit court will also be able to handle Class A misdemeanors in criminal cases. Serving with Judge Ronnow in the circuit court will be Robert W. Owens of St. George. They will work under the presiding eye of Judge Harlan Burns. The 9th circuit will include Millard,. Iron, Beaver and Washington Counties, the same as the fifth judicial district. Travel around Ronnow said the two judges will alternate traveling throughout the district on alternating weeks. "The smaller cities in the district will have the choice of having municipal branches of the circuit court," Ronnow said, "instead of justices of the peace.. Court will be held in county seats and primary locations." Also passed during the past legislature was a bill which strengthens the justice of the peace system, Ronnow said, by eliminating home courts and by putting the justices on a salary rather than a fee basis. "The J. P. Bill made the system stronger," he said. "But," the judge emphasized, "residents in smaller communities can now have the services of law-trained law-trained judges. All circuit court judges will be lawyer judges. There are 60,000 people in this district and they are just not getting the handling of the cases they are entitled to." Lawyers to be educated Judge Burns, Ronnow said, is "working his head off" to keep up with the cases in the District Court. He now will be able to assign Ronnow or Owens to hear cases in his court throughout the district. Local lawyers will also be educated to the fact of filing cases under $5,000 in circuit court rather than tying up the District Court further, he added. The salaries of the circuit court justices will be paid by the state, Ronnow said, as well as cities being reimbursed for office space provided to circuit judges. |