Posted: Wednesday, November 19, 2008 12:00 am
Where will the Lebanon Justice of the Peace Court be after the new Lebanon Justice Center is finished? Exactly where it is now, on the second floor of City Hall.
Construction of the Justice Center is funded by the bond measure approved by voters in November 2006. The bond provides funding only for city facilities. Justice, or JP, Courts are the Linn County court system.
After the bond measure passed, the city and county talked about adding space in the new facility for the JP Court, but the discussions foundered over money. The rent would have been significantly higher than it is now, said County Administrator Ralph Wyatt.
Police Chief Mike Healy said the issue was not courtroom space, which the two courts could share as they do now, but office space for the Justice Court.
In the past year and one-half, county commissioners considered consolidating all three of the JP Courts into one, located in Lebanon or Tangent, but decided not to.
At the present time, the county has JP Courts in Harrisburg, Lebanon and Sweet Home, and one judge, Jad Lemhouse, who divides his time among them. Wyatt said the three courts disperses the office to the population, "which is what we're all about
anyway."