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Show : Ceisety to cooitoisiie local JP precimicte Utah County Commissioners Monday approved an ordinance to reduce the number of county ; justices of the peace and constables to two, instead of J.P's for every city as is now the case. The new ordinance creates two Justice of the Peace and Constable precincts in Utah County. . Precinct One includes all of the north end of the county, including '.. the voting precincts of Alpine, Highland, Cedar Fort, . Fairfield, Lehi, Pleasant Grove, Lindon, Orem, American Fork, Vineyard, : Lake View and Pleasant View. Precinct Two, under the ordinance, or-dinance, includes the south end of ' the county, including the voting precincts of Provo, Springville, Mapleton, lakeshore, Benjamin, Spanish Fork, Payson, Salem, Goshen,' Genola, Spring Lake, Elberta, Santaquin, and Thistle-Birdseye. Thistle-Birdseye. The ordinance will take effect Jan. : 1, 1987. Brent Morris, administrative assistant to the County Commission, said commissioners approved the ordinance at this time in order to have the issue settled prior to the filing date for election. The Justice of the Peace is elected by the voters of the area involved. Morris said it has not been determined yet where the Justice of Peace Court would be located in each area, but it would probably be "somewhere in the middle" to make it easier for those who need to appear ap-pear in court. A study conducted by the Utah County auditor's department shows that the county would save as much as $62,000 a year under the new plan. Local justices of the peace do not agree with that estimate. Ada Robinson, Lehi, said, "I think they're up a tree. I don't intend to run again,' so it doesn't make that much difference to me, but they're not worrying about the people." American Fork Justice of the Peace, Grant Ingersoll, said, "The justice of the peace system was set up for the convenience of the people, not the convenience of the courts." He claimed that people from Cedar Valley and Fairfield would have to go too far to settle a ticket for a minor offense. Justice Ingersoll will retire at the end of the year, he has reached the mandatory retirment age of 70, but when asked to comment on the commission's new ordinance, he said flatly, "I don't believe in it." Gail Christensen, 38, Pleasant Grove's justice of the peace, is the youngest of the tri-city justices, but he has definite opinions about the commmission's plan to eliminate his court. In fact, he prepared a report opposing the plan and presented to the commissioners for study. . "The county has some, good reasons. They cited a lack of professionalism in local justice of the peace courts, but I don't think there will be the financial savings they're planning on. They plan to hire one full-time judge and a clerk and a half for each court. I don't think they're being realistic." According to Christiansen, his wife and Justice Ingersoll's wife, both act as clerks in their respective offices. "Because of the state's nepotism laws, they can't receive pay for their work, so $1 per case is added to the justice's paycheck. The clerks do a lot of paperwork. Reports have to be prepared for the FBI, state and county, and that's jUst a part of what they do. " Mrs. Robinson said that about $11,000 to $14,000 is sent to the county each month from the Lehi court. She handles close to 400 cases a month and the county pays her clerks the minimum wage scale. Each of the north Utah County justices conduct court business in their homes. The county pays them $200 rent per month. "When I first started they gave me a receipt book, a ream of dockets and I was in business, They didn't even think I needed a phone or typewriter or pens. We still pay telephone expenses out of the $200 rent," Mrs. Robinson said. "If they eliminate the four justice of the peace courts, it will be almost See JP Courts on page 2 JP courts Continued from front page impossible to see the judges," according ac-cording to Christiansen. It comes down to priorities and benefits, according to Christiansen. The court would be more like a circuit court and access to the judge would be difficult, "as far as professionalism is concerned, I think a person in the community is able to make basic judgements. They're closer to the people." He cited a study that indicated if the four justice of the peace courts were eliminated the Provo court would be the largest justice of the peace court in the state, and the J. P. court in Orem would be number two or third largest. Christiansen and Robinson say they like the informality of justice courts and don't want facilities so respect-engendering that they frighten people. "This is generally a person's first contact with the justice system," Christiansen said. "I try to make people feel at ease." He doesn't think they'd receive this personal consideration in the new court sitution. If a person pleads not guilty, the case has to be tried before a judge and these trials are usually held in the City court room. In Utah, as in most largely rural states, the justice courts are the workhorses of the system. Generally consisting of just a judge or a judge and a clerk, they handled 249,277 cases In fiscal 1983-84, compared to 208,965 cases handled by the Circuit court and 3,937 by the district courts. Precinct judges are elected so citizens still have a voice as to who will make court judgements. City judges are appointed to their positions. There have been as many as 13 precincts within Utah County's boundaries. That amount has been whittled down to six, and now, that number may be trimmed to the Orem and Provo JP courts. |
