Like it or not, new 53rd Circuit is in operation

The 26th Circuit Court shrank by two counties last week as Alpena and Montmorency counties are all that remain of what was once a four-county circuit. Presque Isle merged with Cheboygan County in the 53rd Circuit and Alcona joined the 23rd Circuit with Iosco County. The only way the court realignment could have been prevented was a class action suit in U.S. District Court in Bay City, but that, as many actions over the last year, failed, with federal Judge David Lawson dismissing the case on Friday.

?Primarily we tried to preserve a really good system that was going to save the people a lot of money,? said commissioner Don Field, who also served on the Local Court Management Council of the 26th Circuit. The lawsuit was filed against the State of Michigan and former Secretary of State Candace Miller.

FIELD SAID the federal court was not going to interfere in the state?s legislative scheme. ?We?ve lost all the benefits of being involved in a larger group of people,? said Field. ?We are just not going to have the same things we had.?

Field said Presque Isle will not have the Sexual Offender Program and Sunrise Center to utilize anymore, but Field is pleased the county will still be a part of the Turning Point Program for juveniles. On the first day the Public Act took effect, 53rd Circuit Judge Scott Pavlich spent some time visiting the media to discuss the transition. He realizes it wasn?t the best decision by the legislature, but there could be some benefits with a two-county circuit.

?It?s going to work out in the long run,? said Pavlich, visiting The Advance Tuesday. ?I think the legislation was handled in the wrong fashion. There was no input from the local people.

?I think we have to accept that and move on. In talking with folks over at the county building (Rogers City), I think there are some benefits.?

ONE IS that there will be only one judge working in two counties, compared to two judges in four. ?I think that makes it a little easier for them,? said Pavlich of the circuit court employees. ?I think that will be a benefit. We?ll lose some things, by not being aligned with Alpena, but I think there will be more attention (to cases).? The break-up still will cost Presque Isle County more money, said Field.

?I think if you?ll talk to even Allan Bruder (county chairman), who was skeptical that this was going to cost us this much money,? said Field, ?he?s now convinced it?s going to cost us a minimum of $50,000 to do what the state wants us to do, and they are not going to pay us back.? Field believes it?s going to be more like $100,000.

Field said, according to the opinion, the plaintiffs had the right action, but did not demonstrate an actual equal protection violation ? ?that our rights were violated by the actions of the state legislature,? said Field. ?So he dismissed our federal claim with prejudice and dismissed the state claims without prejudice. ?BUT AS a practical matter, if we go into the state courts, and ultimately get to the Michigan Supreme Court, they have their fingerprints all over this. They are not going to agree with us. So we?re done.? The issue that angers Field the most is the State Court Administrator?s office never contacted county officials about the proposal before the legislature passed it.

?They had no qualms about coming in and tearing something apart without even knowing what it was,? said Field. ?They didn?t ask us why we should leave the 26th Circuit Court together. They just came in and said w

e?re ripping it apart and we don?t care that something you?ve built over the last 21 years is going to be destroyed. We don?t care.?

Pavlich said then-Gov. John Engler was in favor of a unified trial court. When Engler couldn?t get that passed he wanted to spread circuit court judges so thin that the probate judges would have to assume more case load.

?That?s happening,? said Pavlich.

The planning process to bring Presque Isle into the 53rd Circuit has been under way for the last six months, and although every contingency hasn?t been thought of, Pavlich said, ?In the long run it will work rather smoothly.?

Pavlich has his first motion day at the Presque Isle County Courthouse April 14.

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