Posted Jun 2, 2009, 7:00 PM
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Country Club Park, Greater Coronado, Midtown, Phoenix, Az
Posts: 4,610
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http://www.azcentral.com/community/m...ssuit0603.html
Quote:
EV groups consider filing suit to keep courts in Mesa
1 comment by Jim Walsh - Jun. 2, 2009 11:16 AM
The Arizona Republic
Opponents of plans to move the criminal divisions of Maricopa County Superior Court from Mesa to Phoenix are researching a possible class action lawsuit to block court consolidation.
Milt Lee, president of the Mesa Public Safety Foundation, said the East Valley's population has doubled since the county's Southeast Regional Public Service Facility opened in 1991 to bring the courts and other services closer to the people.
He said it took 10 years of effort to get the courthouse built in Mesa and he will join Mayor Scott Smith in fighting to keep convenient services for East Valley residents.
"It's an old wound that has been re-opened and shouldn't have been," Lee said, referring to Presiding Superior Court Judge Barbara Rodriguez Mundell's plans to move all criminal divisions back to Phoenix.
Lee said he has asked a top constitutional attorney to review whether Mundell's plan reneges on promises made to voters before they approved a $260 million bond issue in 1986 that built the Mesa complex and paid for other improvements.
Citing the recession and the need for budget cuts, Mundell plans to move the five Southeast criminal divisions from Mesa to Phoenix by the end of this year. She would make room by transferring more family court and civil judges to Mesa.
She said the move would cut transportation costs and allow for more efficient use of court resources by having all criminal courts at one location, including court reporters and interpreters. The county is building a $350 million criminal courts tower.
Long-term plans called for moving the Mesa criminal courts when the tower opens in 2012, but Mundell decided to "accelerate" that process because of budget issues.
Lee, Smith and other opponents say that any cost savings to the county would get passed on to East Valley residents through higher transportation costs for victims, witnesses, and cities that pay the salaries of police officers for their additional trips to Phoenix.
The Mesa facility features Superior Court, assessor's and recorder's offices, a busy clerk of courts office, a law library, and separate buildings to house a juvenile court and detention center.
At the time, then-Maricopa County Supervisor Tom Freestone hailed the $16.8 million facility as "kind of like a regional shopping center" for county services, according to an April 1991 story in The Arizona Republic about the building's dedication.
All services but criminal court for felony cases would remain available under Mundell's plan. Justice courts and municipal courts that handle misdemeanors would not be affected.
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So much drama over a court tower, here's a tip, don't go to court and the drive won't be an issue!
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