Oregon Public Broadcasting

No trials, no traffic court, no temporary restraining orders.  Barring a last-minute bailout, local courthouses around the state will virtually shut down beginning Friday, March 13th. 

Oregon Chief Justice Paul DeMuniz, who oversees the state court system made that announcement last week, pending a vote in the legislature on the state budget.    April Baer has reaction from local justice officials.

Jean Maurer  "This isn't about the judges. This isn't about anyone but the public and access to justice in our society."

Jean Maurer, presiding judge in Multnomah County's court system, speaks for a lot of people when she says the cutback's effect will be serious. Last year this court alone handled 426,000 cases.

Handling that volume in four days each week instead of five will test judges, attorneys, court staff, and most certainly, Maurer says, the people who come to court for justice.

Jean Maurer   "People who come before the court, for example, seeking protective orders, will come on Fridays, as events in their lives require them to come to the court. And these will be people seeking stalking orders, people with complaints of abuse of elders or the disabled. And they're going to have to come back on Monday."

That's to say nothing of Oregonians who need business disputes settled, people accused of serious crimes, those who need tax matters resolved, and others. Civil and family court operations are expected to take especially hard hits.

Maurer's colleague, Judge Nan Waller, is Chief Judge for family courts in Multnomah County. She says a great deal of thought will go into trying to give give people the time they need. She's looking into holding settlement conferences on Fridays, when she, if not her staff, will be working. Still, Judge Waller allows, the challenge is daunting.

Judge Nan Waller    "There's no way we can take five days that are very, very full, and cram them into four days without losing something."

The effect of the cutbacks will hardly stop with the state's big metro areas. Rob Bovett is the District Attorney for Lincoln County, on the coast. He notes that the bulk of the cases moving through their courts deal with criminal matters. He says there's no way to sugarcoat the cutback.

Rob Bovett   "Some misdemeanors might get dropped to violations, for example. Some might not get processed."

But Bovett says he hopes to benefit from the experience of 2003, the last time Oregon cut court back to four days a week. It was a great learning period for efficiency, he says. He only wishes he believed that the shortened work week is a short-term measure. Few of those familiar with state budget matters believe the work week will be restored in July, as a new state budget period begins.

Perhaps no one is more mindful of the difficulties ahead than the legal community in Eugene and Springfield. Lane County's justice system has been in a state of collapse for a number of years. The system has become narrowly focused on the most violent offenders. D.A. Alex Gardner says the problems are well-known.

Alex Gardner    "We don't have to speculate about that because we hear inmates --the few who are remaining  in custody--talking about it. For example, they worry less about having to post bail, even on fairly serious offenses, because they know they're going to be bounced from the system very quickly."

Gardner says as a practical matter, there's no difference between the shortened work week and the occassional three day weekends that delay arraignments and other business.

Alex Gardner   "The problem is that if you have a 3 day weekend or four day weekend every weekend, it becomes a snake that swallowed a rat. There's this huge bolus that somehow has to be processed by the system."

And Gardner says Lane County never did manage to adequately process the backlog that cropped up the last time court weeks were shortened, in 2003.