Municipal court seeks staff and a new courthouse as backlog grows

The city’s municipal court told council its operational workload and an inherited backlog now exceed staff capacity, and officials asked for a supervisory reclassification and long‑term facilities investment.

Court Administrator Alejandra Peru told council staff that municipal filings and open dispositions have grown to a point that the court estimates thousands of unresolved disposition updates remain in state records. "We have over 8,000 open dispositions" she said, explaining staff must retrieve files, update sentencing disposition reports and transmit corrections to DPS — a process she said could take several years at current staffing levels.

Peru requested a chief court clerk position (reclassification and market alignment of the existing chief clerk salary to reduce operational risk and provide supervision split between criminal and civil processing). She proposed funding the initial salary lift from court special revenue (fees restricted for court use) with a plan that the general fund absorb ongoing costs later. Peru estimated an initial court special‑revenue commitment of about $13,074 to cover hiring and a market adjustment in the first phase (transcript provided itemized suggested amounts; council asked for HR validation and confirmation).

On facilities, Peru recommended planning for a new ADA‑compliant justice center consolidating court, prosecutor and victim services, citing safety, asbestos and ADA issues in the existing historic courthouse. She asked to use court special revenue to underwrite a design phase and noted that construction would require general‑fund or other capital support. The court also has received external short‑term support from neighboring jurisdictions to help clear dockets, but Peru warned those are not permanent solutions.

What’s next: Council will ask HR and finance to validate the salary and funding approach; city staff will return with a design scope/costing for the proposed courthouse concept and an implementation timeline for council evaluation at the May 6 work session.