Ronan court meets goal, sets another
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RONAN — The Ronan City Court managed to complete one goal two months ahead of schedule and is now setting its sights on another.
“It was a goal to make the court current,” Ronan City Court Judge Justin Bartels said.
During the past two years, the court has handled almost 500 cases as it tried to eliminate a backlog stretching back to 2006. Bartels wanted to finish the task by July, but managed to complete it by May.
“It took a lot of hearings,” Bartels said.
Many of the cases were for people who never appeared after being ticketed, Bartels said. Once the court contacted the people who were ticketed, they often would admit to the crime and ask where to send the fine money, Bartels said.
About half of the cases resulted in a bench warrant because the person did not respond to the court, Bartels said.
Budgetary constraints didn’t allow for Bartels and court clerk Jennifer Rolfsness to spend extra time on the backlog. The court is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Almost all of the caseload consists of criminal offenses, but once or twice per year a civil matter will come before the court.
Now that the backlog is caught up, Bartels’ new goal is to renovate the courtroom.
“The chairs we have are taped over, have holes in them,” Bartels told City Council at its Aug. 26 meeting. “They don’t look very professional.”
In addition, the bookshelves are falling apart and the bench has spots bare of Formica, Bartels told the council.
The council authorized Bartels to replace the chairs at the meeting. Other improvements, including new paint and carpet cleaning, will have to wait because the courtroom’s roof continues to leak after many years.
“If the ceiling did break or collapse and we’ve got a flood, all that stuff looks like we could get a hold of it and move it. I don’t have a problem with it,” councilman Cal Hardy said at the council meeting. “As far as painting the walls and cleaning the carpet, let’s hold off until the roof has at least got a neck to choke that it’s not going to leak anymore.”
Mayor Kim Aipperspach questioned whether the council wanted to authorize the money immediately or write it into next year’s budget.
Hardy wanted to authorize it immediately.
“I feel like we’ve lapsed in this and it’s been an ongoing thing,” Hardy said.
The improvements are more than cosmetically necessary.
“The state requires court to be a dignified and distinguished environment. That’s what we want to have,” Bartels said.
