Opening of justice court center
Wednesday, March 28
- Organization: The Arizona Republic
Carpenters' hammers were pounding, the security-card reader for employees wasn't working and legal forms hadn't arrived when the Maricopa County San Tan Justice Center opened in downtown Chandler this week.
Employees said they made do, and most operations in the four relocated justice courts went smoothly when the county's fifth regional court center started hearing cases Monday.
The new building, constructed by the county on city land, houses Tempe's University Lakes and Kyrene justice courts, Chandler's San Marcos court and South Mesa/Gilbert's San Tan court.
Like the Valley's four others, this regional facility contains a computer-equipped self-service center for those who want to act as their own attorneys, conference rooms for mediation and video surveillance. The popular self-service centers were used by 9,522 court visitors last month at other sites, Superior Court spokeswoman J.W. Brown said.
For those with Chandler ties, the new courts center is a convenience that will likely boost downtown redevelopment, sending court employees and litigants to downtown shops and restaurants, Assistant City Manager Pat McDermott said. But for the Tempe courts, it's a long detour that continues to draw criticism for being too removed from the communities they serve.
John Ore, presiding Maricopa County justice of the peace, said the move from his former University Lakes Justice Court at Broadway Road and McClintock Drive in Tempe doesn't just mean longer drives from his home or to his presiding judicial duties in downtown Phoenix. He wonders how Arizona State University students will get to court if they don't have cars and how much extra time it will take ASU police to drive to Chandler to file papers or testify.
"The facility is newer, therefore nicer, but it's somewhat dysfunctional right now," said Ore, a vocal opponent of relocating justice courts outside of jurisdictions they serve.
"It took me an hour to get here," said Gabriela Garcia of Phoenix. She was waiting in line to file a small-claims case in the Tempe court.
Lane Floyd had to make his way to downtown Chandler from Glendale to defend himself on a traffic ticket he got in Chandler. "It took me an hour and a half to get here," he said.
Process server Mike West said he is used to traveling hundreds of miles across the Valley but had a hard time finding the time and date stamps at the new court and waited in line with customers to get an answer.
For hometown Justice of the Peace Keith Frankel, the first day for his San Marcos Court in the new building "was a little hectic, but this is a very nice facility that serves the public well."
He moved from rented space in a shopping center at Dobson and Warner roads.
Although fewer than a dozen litigants and lawyers were in the court lobby and hallway Monday morning, the parking lot in front of the building was full. Brown said more parking is available behind the building, and the 277 spaces exceed city standards.
McDermott doesn't foresee parking problems no matter how busy the courts become because more spaces are across the street in the Chandler police and municipal courts lot.
One of the more unusual shortages on opening day was of plastic pet-food dishes. Security guards said litigants must empty pockets before going through metal detectors, and the pet-food dishes are inexpensive holders. Some people carry more than keys and phones, and four dishes on hand aren't enough, guard Adam Sejdinaj said.
Employees said they made do, and most operations in the four relocated justice courts went smoothly when the county's fifth regional court center started hearing cases Monday.
The new building, constructed by the county on city land, houses Tempe's University Lakes and Kyrene justice courts, Chandler's San Marcos court and South Mesa/Gilbert's San Tan court.
Like the Valley's four others, this regional facility contains a computer-equipped self-service center for those who want to act as their own attorneys, conference rooms for mediation and video surveillance. The popular self-service centers were used by 9,522 court visitors last month at other sites, Superior Court spokeswoman J.W. Brown said.
For those with Chandler ties, the new courts center is a convenience that will likely boost downtown redevelopment, sending court employees and litigants to downtown shops and restaurants, Assistant City Manager Pat McDermott said. But for the Tempe courts, it's a long detour that continues to draw criticism for being too removed from the communities they serve.
John Ore, presiding Maricopa County justice of the peace, said the move from his former University Lakes Justice Court at Broadway Road and McClintock Drive in Tempe doesn't just mean longer drives from his home or to his presiding judicial duties in downtown Phoenix. He wonders how Arizona State University students will get to court if they don't have cars and how much extra time it will take ASU police to drive to Chandler to file papers or testify.
"The facility is newer, therefore nicer, but it's somewhat dysfunctional right now," said Ore, a vocal opponent of relocating justice courts outside of jurisdictions they serve.
"It took me an hour to get here," said Gabriela Garcia of Phoenix. She was waiting in line to file a small-claims case in the Tempe court.
Lane Floyd had to make his way to downtown Chandler from Glendale to defend himself on a traffic ticket he got in Chandler. "It took me an hour and a half to get here," he said.
Process server Mike West said he is used to traveling hundreds of miles across the Valley but had a hard time finding the time and date stamps at the new court and waited in line with customers to get an answer.
For hometown Justice of the Peace Keith Frankel, the first day for his San Marcos Court in the new building "was a little hectic, but this is a very nice facility that serves the public well."
He moved from rented space in a shopping center at Dobson and Warner roads.
Although fewer than a dozen litigants and lawyers were in the court lobby and hallway Monday morning, the parking lot in front of the building was full. Brown said more parking is available behind the building, and the 277 spaces exceed city standards.
McDermott doesn't foresee parking problems no matter how busy the courts become because more spaces are across the street in the Chandler police and municipal courts lot.
One of the more unusual shortages on opening day was of plastic pet-food dishes. Security guards said litigants must empty pockets before going through metal detectors, and the pet-food dishes are inexpensive holders. Some people carry more than keys and phones, and four dishes on hand aren't enough, guard Adam Sejdinaj said.
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