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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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A.c. Dumas
Tune in to the " Truth shall make you free " broadcast with your host AC Dumas this and every Saturday mornings from 9:30-10am on Flint's gospel radio station WFLT 1420 am. This is a call in show 810-239-5733 and calls are welcome. This week's topic the "Merger of Flint's 68th District Court with the county's 67th Court." Flint will lose one judge because of the merger. According to the State of Michigan Court representative from Lansing... "the Case loads are down in the City of Flint". What are your thoughts of this merger? We've invited elected representatives from the Flint District Court and State elected officials. Stay informed and listen to us on this Saturday!
Flint, Genesee District Court merger could be on fast track in Lansing
www.mlive.com
The chairman of the state Senate Judiciary Committee says he expects a bill that would allow for the merging Genesee and Flint district courts could be law by the end of the first quarter of 2014. |
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Sun Jan 05, 2014 8:11 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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| The comments on this show have all been positive. Last week he interviewed Representative Dan kildee on the unemployment extensions. |
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Sun Jan 05, 2014 8:13 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Flint, Genesee District Court merger could be on fast track in Lansing
Ron Fonger | rfonger1@mlive.com By Ron Fonger | rfonger1@mlive.com
on January 05, 2014 at 7:00 AM, updated January 05, 2014 at 7:06 AM
GENESEE COUNTY, MI -- The chairman of the state Senate Judiciary Committee says he expects a bill that would allow the Genesee and Flint district courts to merge could be law by the end of the first quarter of 2014.
My committee will be considering that in January. I expect it will pass ... After my committee, there will be a vote of the full Senate and on to the governor's desk," said state Sen. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge, chairman of the Judiciary Committee where the bill is pending.
The state House of Representatives approved House Bill 5125 in December with Reps. Joseph Graves, R-Argentine Twp.; Pam Faris, D-Clio; Charles Smiley, D-Burton; and Phil Phelps, D-Flushing, voting for it, and Rep. Woodrow Stanley, D-Flint, voting against.
Jones said he expects the bill to be signed into law in the first quarter of this year, opening the door for changes in several district courts in the state.
The proposed change in the law here comes after a June report from the State Court Administrative Office suggested the addition and reduction in judgeships in various district courts and the reconfiguring of some existing courts like Flint and Genesee to increase efficiency.
The report recommended merging the Flint and county district courts but not reducing the number of judges beyond the one judge reduction that is already scheduled to occur in Flint District Court through attrition.
The state legislation would make Flint a separate election division of the Genesee District Court and would require approval by Flint's emergency manager and the county Board of Commissioners to take effect, according to an analysis by the House Fiscal Agency.
State Sen. David Robertson, R-Grand Blanc Twp., said the judicial reforms and recommendations from the SCAO, "carries a lot of weight" with him, but "I want to know what the Board of Commissioners position is" before the Senate vote.
State Sen. Jim Ananich, D-Flint, said he supports the concept of the consolidation and expects to vote for it.
At the county level, Jamie Curtis, chairman for the Board of Commissioners, said he could support the consolidation, providing the county isn't taking on debts from the city of Flint in the process.
"I'm not opposed to looking at all the options that are available (but) it's got to be revenue neutral at the very, very least," Curtis said.
County officials, including Richard Yuille, chief of all county judges, discussed a similar court consolidation in 2012, but the effort stalled.
That effort also emerged from the SCAO because of the city of Flint's shrinking population and its dwindling caseload, the agency has said.
Discussions started to crystalize after a 2011 report concluded Flint District Court has too many judges -- five -- each of whom earn annual six-digit salaries.
The number of judges in the court has remained the same even though case filings dropped by 51.3 percent from 2003 to 2010, according to the state.
Flint officials have said the Flint court system has become a burden on taxpayers.
The Flint Journal could not immediately reach Yuille for comment on the latest effort to change the law. |
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Sun Jan 05, 2014 8:17 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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untanglingwebs
F L I N T O I D
Could 68th district court in Genesee County could be dissolved?
Posted: Dec 20, 2013 6:32 PM EST
Updated: Dec 20, 2013 6:40 PM EST
By Siobhan Riley - email
GENESEE COUNTY (WJRT) -
(12/20/13) - If a proposed legislation wins approval in the state legislature, Genesee County's 68th District Court could be dissolved.
That could also mean layoffs.
ABC12 News has learned this could mean six or more layoffs if this bill is passed. It's not clear exactly who would be impacted.
This bill has already been approved by the House and now it has to be approved by the Senate.
If it's passed, it means there's a possibility that the 68th court could be merged into a division of the 67th, meaning that the 67th could have five divisions instead of four.
"Because some of the personnel would not be necessary. Some of the judges would come over with their clerks," said Joseph Graves, State Rep. for the 51st district.
Some believe it will save the county money.
"It cost $5 million a year right now to operate them because the revenue is not coming in, they don't write the tickets in the City of Flint to pay for them, the 67th district court does generate funds," Graves said.
"It's all in the spirit of trying to be more efficient delivery of services in the court system," said Genesee County Commissioner Jamie Curtis.
Currently, the 68th district has five judges. Part of the bill is calling for four judges in the 5th division when someone retires.
Everyone isn't so sure about merging the two.
"The flaw in that it looks like the case load for 68th district court is dropping and the reason that it's dropping is that we don't have the required number of police officers on the street who would be generating cases, and so if you don't have police officers on the streets, you're not going to get the cases," said State Rep. Woodrow Stanley.
If this bill is approved by the Senate, it's expected to go to Gov. Snyder's office next month.
It would require two-thirds of votes from Genesee County commissioners in order to go forward.
It takes two years under this bill to implement. |
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Sun Jan 05, 2014 8:22 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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While it is repeatedly stated it takes $5 million to operate the 68th District Court, their new budget is only $3.5 million.
Legal professionals claim the 68th is the most inefficient court in the state.
Will this change compromise the budget of the county? |
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Sun Jan 05, 2014 8:25 am |
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