Bucks County needs A MODERN, EFFICIENT and safe courthouse

The Bucks County Court of Common Pleas system is highly respected throughout this Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In order to maintain this court system for the benefit of the citizens of Bucks County, we need a modern, safe, efficient courthouse.

In a recent newspaper article, Commissioner Charles Martin suggested that one million dollars should be cut from the budget for the fifth floor of the new Justice Center. His suggestion should be rejected because as discussed below, it would not save, only postpone any expense and would lead to a less efficient and unsafe new Justice Center. When the plans for the Justice Center were presented, there was extensive discussion regarding building courtrooms on the fifth floor, which is the third level of courtrooms. The Commissioners then voted for the plan which included the three courtrooms for the fifth floor.

The reasons for the need for these three courtrooms are extensive and difficult to summarize in a letter. However, the following may help explain the issues. Safety concerns The current plan is to use the fifth floor for the Family Court hearings. If the courtrooms on the fifth floor are not completed, then Family Court must be held in three of the six (including Juvenile) courtrooms on the third floor. The Family Court litigants, witnesses and support staff would share the same, limited hall space with other court litigants. This would include young children involved in dependency proceedings. This hall would also include a waiting room area for approximately 50 people and, in the morning, a line of people would be trying to check in for support or Protection From Abuse Court. This would produce a crowded, unsafe situation with victims and abusers in the same area, similar to the problem that currently exists in the Family Court Building. The fifth floor of the new Justice Center is designed to relieve the current Family Court overcrowding and safety problems. If we do not build the fifth floor, the unsafe conditions litigants face today will remain. Reasonable expansion The Justice Center is being built for the reasonable future, not just for the day it opens.

Based on population, Bucks County should have at least 18 judges. Two new Judges were requested in 2010, and if not for state budget constraints, would already have been sitting. The Justice Center is scheduled to open in the Summer of 2014. Certainly within several years of opening, Bucks County should expect more judges and should plan accordingly.

The use of the courtrooms is not limited to the 13 judges and senior judges. Courtrooms are also needed for other proceedings such as the Grand Jury and for the State Worker’s Compensation Court Judge.

One of the courtrooms is the Juvenile Courtroom and Feder- al Law precludes the usage of the courtroom next to it for adult criminal cases because adults and juvenile defendants may not be placed in the same holding cell. Cost Reducing expenses now by eliminating portions of the fifth floor will only delay building the deleted portions. It will not save money, only postpone the expense.

Building any portion of the planned areas of the fifth floor at a later date will cost substantially more money both because construction costs will be more expensive in the future and it would cost more to bring in all the contractors necessary for such a project again rather than utilize them now while they are building the rest of the project.

The building has already been reduced in size by one entire floor to accommodate the Borough of Doylestown.

Future construction for the fifth floor would have to occur either during regular business hours and disrupt court proceed- ings, while Judges and jurors attempt to listen to children and victims of abuse and other litigants, or it would have to occur on evenings and weekends and be much more expensive due to overtime wages.

Like Commissioner Martin, I will also not be running for re-election because of mandatory retirement for judges. However, I truly believe it would be a violation of the trust that the citizens of Bucks County have placed in their public officials for the Commissioners to build a new Justice Center with any decrease in the approved plans. The Board of Judges urges the Commissioners to remember all of the factors that lead to the decision to build the new Justice Center in the first place. The public will not be served by enacting a quick budget fix that will cost tax payers much more in the long run.

President Judge Susan Devlin Scott Bucks County Court of Common Pleas, Doylestown