Justice Court 2016 Budget Presentation Page __ in the Budget Binder

Justice Court – What We Do 2016 Proposed - $447,830 A 0.22% decrease from the 2015 Budget of $448,851 The Summit County Justice Court has jurisdiction over all traffic violations, infractions and Class B and C Misdemeanors which occur in Summit County. This includes citations issued at the Port of Entry and wildlife and boating violations occurring in our recreational areas. In addition to the traffic and criminal matters, the court also has jurisdiction of all Small Claims civil matters filed in Summit County. Jurisdiction of the Small Claims court is limited to matters under $10,000 for money damages only. A pool of local attorneys volunteer to serve as Judge Pro Tems to hear these cases.

Justice Court – What We Do Judge Kerr presides in all cases and serves as the County Magistrate to reviews all probable cause statements filed by law enforcement on a daily basis and make bail determinations. The court is staffed with a Court Administrator and three full-time clerks who handle all matters from answering phones and customer questions, scheduling hearing, case filings and reviews, receipting payments and accounting of posted bail, recording in court proceedings, record keeping and accounting. The court works on a daily basis with jail personnel, the staff of the prosecutor’s office for Park City and the Summit County Attorney’s office and the various law enforcement agencies and private defense attorneys.

Justice Court – Case Load

Data Points

S.W.O.T. Analysis – justice court Strengths Our personnel - Highly skilled & experienced Judge, Clerks and Court Administrator. Well equipped facility with tech and security improvements Continued high judicial performance evaluations. Prompt, efficient polite and fair. Weaknesses The Court needs a dedicated probation officer to assure compliance with court orders and to decrease Mandatory sentencing guidelines from the State limit creative sentencing options. Need more treatment options not jail and fines. Opportunities Increased utilization of paperless technology to increase efficiency and better secure confidential information. Upgrades to web site for information and payments. Justice Reinvestment opportunity for alternative sentencing and to decrease recidivism Threats Sixth Amendment concerns may require increased appointment of public defenders for indigent defendants. Changes in state law may require more large marijuana cases to be filed in our court increasing case load and complexity of cases.

Personnel – Justice Court Our office consists of the Judge, a Court Administrator and three Court Clerks We have maintained same staffing levels since early 2000.

Budget Analysis – Justice Court 2016 is in-line with 2015 expenses. Increases in benefits and salaries are offset by the 27 pay periods in 2015.

Questions?