Tuesday, July 10, 2007 | 6:56 a.m.
As county and court officials grapple with where to put six new District Court judges, most of the discussion has revolved around building new courtroom space at a cost of millions of dollars.
Another solution, however, might make better fiscal sense and make court-going more convenient - night and weekend court.
The Family Court division will become home to five of the six new judges, and expanding its hours into evenings and weekends could better use existing facilities and eliminate the need for construction.
Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani suggested night and weekend court during Tuesday's commission meeting.
"We are a 24-hour urban town," Giunchigliani said. "We can't continue to keep up with the pace of the growth."
But night and weekend court is a tough sell among judges, who are the final decision-makers on how the court operates. Expanded hours might be more convenient for residents, but they can be a pain for judges and lawyers accustomed to 9-to- 5 workdays. Although judges acknowledge that they must think creatively to deal with the space crunch, most are not excited about weekend and night court.
"We don't reject any idea," Presiding Family Court Judge Art Ritchie said. But he added: "I have four kids ... It would be important for me to be home in the evening."
Family Court now has one night court session monthly that operates from 6 to 8 p.m. and deals only with uncontested matters.
State lawmakers added the new Clark County judgeships during this year's legislative session. Judges here initially asked for 10 new judges, but the county negotiated that figure down. Although the state pays for judges' salaries, the county pays for facilities and support staff such as clerks and bailiffs. The new judges will take the bench in 2009.
County officials now are waiting on suggestions from court administrators and current judges about how to house the new judges.
So far, discussions among judges have included a combination of shifting two Family Court judges downtown to the Regional Justice Center's newly renovated 10th floor, and spending an estimated $7 million to $10 million to add a courtroom and turn one existing courtroom into two at the county's Family Court facility at Pecos and Bonanza roads.
With the opening this month of the renovated 10th floor of the Regional Justice Center, all District judges will have their own courtroom except for Chief District Judge Kathy Hardcastle, who as presiding judge does not carry a full caseload.
The county already faces a tighter-than-expected capital budget because state lawmakers diverted a portion of Clark County property tax revenue to pay for state transportation projects. The county also is looking at an estimated loss of $300 million over 10 years because of tax breaks lawmakers approved for environmentally friendly building projects.
Those factors will leave county commissioners with some tough decisions about which capital projects to fund. Commissioners are expected to approve a capital budget this month or in August.
"If we can find a way to share courtrooms, that would save many millions of dollars," Commissioner Bruce Woodbury said. "It's a concept that ought to be explored."
District judges occasionally share their courtrooms with senior judges and hearing masters.
Judges, however, are less interested in exploring non traditional court hours as a solution to the space crunch.
Hardcastle said night and weekend court has not been at the forefront of solutions she is exploring.
"You don't have attorneys who are going to be able to come in at night," she said.
It would be more accurate, though, to say that lawyers and other courtroom personnel simply don't want to work nights. That factor alone, some say, should not preclude an examination of the economic and logistical feasibility of night court.
Giunchigliani said the convenience for customers, not judges and attorneys, should come first. Many residents lose wages when they must miss work to attend court during business hours, she said.
In Family Court, about 60 percent of litigants represent themselves, said John Jensen, acting assistant administrator for Family Court.
Jensen said changing the hours judges work would create more space.
If judges worked four 10-hour days, rather than five eight-hour days, it would free up an entire courtroom, he said. That could eliminate the need to build a new courtroom at the Family Court facility.
"If we can first get the judges to go along with the philosophy that the courtroom is just a resource to be used and does not belong to anyone, then we can start doing some of those extended shifts," Jensen said. "We need to let go of this idea of courtroom ownership."
Other municipalities have successfully implemented night and weekend courts on a large scale.
In Phoenix, Maricopa Superior Court holds family and juvenile night court until 9 p.m. It also has full-day Saturday sessions. Houston's municipal court system operates until 10 p.m. four nights a week.
In Phoenix, commissioners rather than judges preside over night court. Commissioners are attorneys appointed by the presiding judge to hear select cases. Judges take turns presiding over Saturday court every other week.
J.W. Brown, a spokeswoman for Maricopa courts, said customer service, not space concerns, drove the decision in January to expand hours there.
As for getting attorneys on board with the new hours, Brown said judges and commissioners have found a simple solution - allow the client, not the attorney, to schedule court appearances.
"If a client asks for a court date, they will give it to them even if the attorney objects," Brown said.
If judges here agree to look into the possibility of expanded hours, several questions would still have to be resolved.
No one is sure to what extent additional personnel would be required to staff weekend or evening court operations. The county must pay for additional courtroom personnel for the new judges, regardless of when they work. But expanded hours also would require at least some additional staffers, such as bailiffs to screen those entering the building. Whether that cost would outpace savings is unclear.
Whatever solution county and court officials find is likely to be only a temporary one. With a growing population and increasing case loads, judges say they'll be asking for another expansion of the bench during the 2009 legislative session.
Hardcastle said the county needs to begin planning now for a second facility downtown, similar to the Regional Justice Center.
That project, however, comes with a price tag of at least $200 million.
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