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Monday, February 26, 2007

Ind. Courts - "Hammond City Court on last legs?"

Susan Brown of the NWI Times reports today:

HAMMOND | Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. has vetoed renewing City Court for another four years.

Adopted by the council at its last regular meeting two weeks ago, the ordinance re-establishing the court was not signed by the mayor within the requisite 10 days, resulting in a pocket veto.

By law, City Clerk Robert Golec now is required to notify the council. He will present the veto to the City Council at its meeting tonight.

"If I do not present the veto at the next regular or special session, the veto stands," Golec said.

Six council votes would be required to override the mayor's veto.

McDermott said his veto was prompted by the four-year period of the renewal and the court's being a potential area for cutting costs.

The ordinance would re-establish the court into 2011, the mayor said. Depending on election results, that could extend the court into another administration.

McDermott said deals made by the previous administration have been a major source of frustration for him during his term in office.

"I always thought that was unfair," he said.

There are no guarantees he or City Court Judge Jeffrey Harkin will be re-elected and, if approved, the court would operate into the next term, the mayor said.

In addition, the mayor is eyeing the court as a means to cut staffing.

"We have to start thinking about cutting government costs," McDermott said.

The City Court could be redundant, he said, suggesting its duties could be combined with the Lake Superior Court on Russell Street.

For a related story, see this ILB entry from Nov. 11, 2006, titled "Centralize many of Lake County's 27 courts?"

Posted by Marcia Oddi on February 26, 2007 08:28 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts