Crowded courts

Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2008 | 2:08 a.m.

District Court officials want a second courthouse building to meet increased caseloads, but they have yet to adequately answer why many courtrooms are empty for much of the day.

In Sunday’s Las Vegas Sun, reporters Brian Eckhouse and Jeff German reported that many of Las Vegas’ Justice Courts are empty after lunch. The justices of the peace, who preside over misdemeanors, small-claims civil actions and felony preliminary hearings, want to dispute the perception that nothing is happening when the courtroom is closed.

They say they are at work in their chambers, researching and writing legal opinions as well as reviewing search warrant applications. District Court judges, who handle felony and major civil cases, say the same thing when asked about their empty courtrooms.

There certainly is a glut of cases in the court system, and officials are considering ways to improve the courts’ ability to handle the work. Last month Douglas Smith, chief justice of the peace, circulated a letter asking others for their ideas. One idea being considered is adding a regular night court, at a cost of $5 million a year.

District Attorney David Roger suggests that the court first look at other ways it could do business, noting that most courtrooms are empty after lunch. This seems like an obvious solution, but judges have been reluctant to schedule many types of hearings in the afternoon, saying it could disrupt attorneys’ schedules and conflict with work in District Court.

Although there would undoubtedly be some conflict, that seems to be a minor concern. The larger issues are finding ways to serve the public and spending taxpayer money in the best way possible.

There are ways judges could change how courts work to increase efficiency, including sharing courtrooms, adding afternoon hearings and shifting the way judges work, such as night court.

Those are the types of solutions judges should pursue before they embark on building a $200 million courthouse, where they would presumably have more empty courtrooms in the afternoons.