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While it won’t take any formal action for at least two more weeks, the Spokane Valley City Council learned Tuesday that continuing a contract with Spokane County District Court may be its best option – for now.
However, council members expressed worry that there could be a drop in service next year and beyond as the county is forced to make drastic cuts to keep its budget balanced, including in the areas of public safety and judicial services.
Even more troubling, according to City Manager David Mercier, is that if Spokane Valley chooses to remain with the District Court, it will do so until 2015, as that’s the earliest the contract could be terminated under state law.
“The bedeviling aspect is we’re going to be making a six-year decision,” Mercier told Judge Greg Tripp. “It is a worry for us about the level of impairment in service, depending on what economic forecast you look to. We applaud the efforts of the courts, but it is a concern.”
Tripp said that Spokane Valley wasn’t alone in having concerns about the future, but the District Court would always be there, despite a 10- to 12-percent cut in its budget for 2010. “That’s our responsibility,” he said. “That’s our job, to process these cases.”
Anne Pflug, of the Washington state Department of Commerce, was hired by the city to conduct an analysis of court services as part of the city’s efforts to develop “Plan B’s” for all 17 of its contracts with Spokane County. The council voted to go forward with the studies after the Board of Commissioners abruptly gave notice last December that Spokane County would no longer plow city streets after Oct. 15 of this year. While the city has since solved that dilemma, council members feared they could get caught off guard again.
When it came to review the court contract, council members voted earlier this year to terminate its agreement for District Court services with the county due to state statute notification guidelines. That allowed the city flexibility to form its own court or go with another provider – most likely the city of Spokane – at the beginning of 2011.
City officials have until Dec. 1 to notify county commissioners whether or not Spokane Valley intends to continue receiving service from the District Court.
While the commissioners have agreed to let the city stay on, should council members decide to do so, relations between the two camps have been chilly off and on throughout the past few years.
Council members have said, however, they have no problems with the quality of the court’s service and had no preconceived ideas of forming its own court like the city of Spokane did in 2009.
Still, that does remain an option for Spokane Valley, Pflug said. While the city wouldn’t save any money right away it would take “four to seven years” to match the existing service for the same price. Currently the city pays $920,000 annually for the court contract and another $960,000 each year for related services like prosecution, public defense, and probation and pretrial processing.
Pflug did say, however, that the current setup the city has with the District Court is one to be envied.
“Spokane Valley has the best of both worlds,” Pflug said of the city’s ability to utilize both the Sprague Avenue precinct building – which it owns -- for court space and the downtown county courthouse complex. “Lots of municipalities around the state would drool over what you have.”
Such flexibility allows more cases to be processed, which is a strength. However, the District Court is below state average for collecting revenue for infractions, such as misdemeanors and traffic infractions.
Pflug reiterated that staying with the District Court would be the least expensive option in the short term, while the most costly would be contracting with the city of Spokane – which is just a year into running its own court.
If the council does decide to retain the current contract, Spokane Valley may want to hire its own prosecuting attorney – something that nearly every other jurisdiction in the state does.
“It’s unusual to contract out prosecution service,” Pflug said. “It’s not a bad thing, necessarily; it just might give you some better balance.”
The Spokane Valley City Council will not meet for the next two weeks. The issue will be taken up again at the Nov. 17 meeting at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 11707 E. Sprague.
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By
Mike Huffman
