Left, City Attorney Logan Beveridge and Mayor Andrew Halverson watch a presentation on municipal court Monday at the Lincoln Center. (City-Times photo)

By Brandi Makuski

The Stevens Point City Council finally got answers to some long- held questions about a possible new municipal court this week, which law enforcement officials say could bring almost $200,000 in extra revenue to city coffers.

The council last November turned down including a municipal court in the 2014 city budget because they didn’t have enough information on the proposal, which advocates say would not only alleviate the county circuit court system, but also give defendants a higher sense of justice and lower the fines for ordinance violations.

“I’ve been working on this project for 10 years,” said Stevens Point Police Chief Kevin Ruder. “I don’t know if that says much about my skills of getting stuff passed, but I would never offer anything for a community I care so much that would be in any way detrimental. I think this is a great opportunity, and it’s raised itself even more when space became available when we joined dispatch.”

Stevens Point Police Dispatch joined with Portage County Dispatch last year in the new Portage Co. Communications Center located across the street from the city’s police station, leaving an empty office space in the department’s basement which Ruder said was ideal for the new court.

District Court Administrator Ron Ledford, who oversees more than 20 court systems in his jurisdiction, said all that’s truly needed for the new court system is “a chair and a table.”

“This court also provides a great deal of flexibility for defendants and officers,” Ledford said. “You could include a night court once a month and, say, three dates a month for a daytime court.”

SPPD Chief Kevin Ruder

Ledford added defendants unhappy with the outcome of their case in municipal court system have a right of de novo (“new trial”) and can appeal decisions through the county’s circuit court system.

Ruder said with the help of municipal courts from neighboring municipalities, as well as Ledford, he was able to determine cost projections for the new court, which he puts at approximately $95,000 annually, including a one- time cost of $22,000 for software. That cost would be shared between the city and the Village of Plover at a 75/25 percent split, though that cost share could vary each year commiserate with the number of tickets written by each police department.

Based on the number of municipal violations from 2012- the most recent 12- month statistics available- Ruder said the city would see a profit of $188,000 a year after expenses. That’s an increase, he said, compared with the $125,760 the city currently receives from the county’s circuit court system.

Cost or profit estimates for Plover weren’t immediately available.

“We’ve been working on this for over a year, so we’re very comfortable with the process,” said Plover Administrator Dan Mahoney. “It’s a lot of advantages for the community. The income isn’t as great for us as it is for Stevens Point, but a lot of our board and community members like the idea of local legislation and a local court. We just need to know where the City of Stevens Point is on this.”

Personnel costs for the court include a salary of $40k for a court clerk and $1,000 a month for a part-time judge. Mayor Andrew Halverson said the judge would be appointed by an oversight committee until the next election cycle, when the judge would become an elected position serving four-year terms.

“The court would be overseen by a committee of five, including three individuals from the City of Stevens Point and two from Plover,” Halverson said. “That committee would be responsible for budgetary matters relating to the court’s expense, and for appointing the judge in the beginning of the court’s implementation.”

Wisconsin Rapids Municipal Court Clerk Karen Bertolini, who’s been on the job for nine years, said she’s willing to mentor Stevens Point through the transition. She said the clerk is responsible for all the court’s paperwork as well as transcribing any court recordings, which are provided at the defendant’s request and expense.

“The clerk does all the work, the judge just shows up,” Bertolini said, laughing.

City Attorney Logan Beveridge said he’s on board with the idea of the new court as well, and will be speaking at an upcoming OMNA (Old Main Neighborhood Association) meeting to explain the idea.

OMNA works with a large portion of the city’s student renter population, a demographic more likely to be directly involved with the kind of ordinance violations the new court would handle.

“The municipal court only has jurisdiction over civil municipal citations within the city and the Village of Plover,” Beveridge said. “Traffic tickets, first offense OWI, underage drinking, disorderly conduct, retail theft, those kinds of things.”

Beveridge said under the current circuit court system, he sometimes has to subpoena police officers on their day off because of the court’s full schedule, which means a minimum of one- half day’s overtime pay for each officer called to testify. That expense could be wiped out altogether by a new municipal court, which is more flexible. He also said the fines are lower in a municipal court.

“If someone has a fine they feel was excessive, they’re not going to feel like they had fair justice,” Beveridge added.

The next step for city leaders is to formally adopt a municipal court ordinance, which may be considered in February.

Ruder said the new system could improve relations between his department and area residents, adding Stevens Point is behind neighboring communities when it comes to having the court system.

“Stevens Point is an anomaly for its size, for our jurisdiction to not have a municipal court,” Ruder said. “That’s the first question I’m asked by other municipalities is why we don’t have a municipal court.”