Need a professional locksmith? Click q for truly professional services!

ARCHIVE PAGE

Stay Alert. q Mannatech CLICK HERE, get a Yahoo map to pinpoint any address, THEN COME BACK

MARCH 1998

Districting plan concerns judge

By Judge George Colby

SUNNYSIDE --I am very concerned, and others are very concerned--Yakima Valley mayors, attorneys, judges and other citizens of the county--about the county's recent districting plan proposal for the district courts of Yakima County.

 

This new districting plan proposal (the 1/2 page of typing immediately following this memorandum) was sent to all the members of the Districting Committee along with the notice of the January 23rd meeting for the Committee. Please also find enclosed: Notice of next District Court District Committee Meeting; Revised Code of Washington Title 3.38, and Yakima County District Court Districting Plan.

Shortly following convening the January 23rd meeting, (county prosecutor) Jeff Sullivan stated in a number of ways the "desirability and flexibility of the new plan" that his office had put together and that it was a "summary" of the districting plan.

This was done, he told the Committee, in order to "eliminate the long and cumbersome form of the resolutions and amendments which make up the plan."

The Districting Plan is about a 25-page legal document. The "summary" ended up being one-half page long. Upon further committee discussion and inquiry, the county prosecutor admitted that it wasn't just a summary, but also reflected "how we are functioning now." This concept includes giving District Court judges the authority to determine what location within Yakima County the District Courts shall "sit." The present Districting plan and the law regulating the establishing of District Courts and their location (RCW Title 3.38) give no authority to judges to determine where the District Courts will be located or "sit."

 

This is a major departure from Washington State law and from the Yakima County Districting Plan and also a grave reminder of how the County chose to "function" the last time it imposed change upon the District Court. 'Lest anyone forget, county commissioners went ahead with the action and upon threat of lawsuit, called the Districting Committee within 24 hours--two days before the Kittitas County Superior Court hearing. At this hastily called meeting, the county prosecutor tried to convince Districting Committee members to recommend an amendment be made to the Districting Plan, outlining what county commissioners had decided to do prior to convening this Districting Committee.

Washington State law clearly defines the procedure that is to take place and who has decision-making authority when adding to or amending the Districting plan. Briefly, the Districting Committee is to submit recommendations to county commissioners; a public hearing is to be held concerning these recommendations; thereafter, county commissioners have authority to render a decision.

As you may recall, Committee members declined to act on the county prosecutor's guidance on January 23rd. Instead, the Committee appointed a sub-committee to study re-establishing location(s) for District Court in the Lower Valley and the feasibility of establishing a separate Lower Valley district in accordance with procedures set forth in RCW 3.38.

There is to be a report from that sub-committee on their progress so far, at the next District Court Committee meeting March 6th, at noon at the City of Sunnyside's new Law and Justice Center.

Proposing to reduce our Districting Plan to a nebulous half-page, changing drastically and eliminating all the history, at best places Yakima County at risk of legal challenge to the document's weight and substance. In addition, it further antagonizes and frustrates the perception of eroding services to Lower Yakima Valley citizens. We want you to be aware of what the County has proposed and how we see and are responding to that proposal. We hope this matter will be of interest to you. Please call us at 865-2050, with any questions or comments you may have.

--G.W. Colby

 

Following is the short Plan to which Judge Colby refers:

 

1. Districts: The whole County of Yakima, Washington, shall constitute one district.

2. Judges: There shall be four district court judges.

3. Central office, courtrooms and records: The central office, courtrooms and records of the court shall be maintained at the Yakima County Courthouse, provided, it shall be proper for the files of pending cases to be kept at the court site where the case is heard.

4. Other locations: The district court is authorized to sit at any location within Yakima County which the district court judges, by majority vote, may determine; provided that the board of Yakima County Commissioners has first appropriated funds for such locations(s).

5. Commissioners: Court commissioners are authorized in a number to be determined by the District Court Judges.

6. Municipal departments: No municipal departments are established.