Circuit courts in four towns closing

Circuit courts in Watrous, Carnduff, Big River and Southey are being closed.

The last official days of court in those towns will take place as soon as Wednesday.

Circuit courts are held periodically around smaller towns in Saskatchewan so people who are required to attend provincial court do not need to travel to a larger centre with a courthouse.

Southey will remain open the longest of the four — continuing until July 12.

Courts in other cities — Saskatoon, Estevan, Shellbrook and Regina — are being assigned to hear matters that would have been heard at the closing circuit courts.

NDP justice critic Nicole Sarauer said already courts are delayed and charges are being thrown out because of it.

“There is some concern when we’re adding more files to these larger locations,” she said. “What is this going to mean for a court system that is already quite over burdened?

“We already have a system that’s quite tight in terms of time and is quite bogged down with delay, and if we add more files that were normally heard in another circuit point, to the Regina docket for example, it could potentially result in these cases taking even longer.”

She said there is also the importance of having justice in communities and the feeling justice is occurring in a community.

“That’s lost when these circuit courts are closed,” she said.

It is unclear how much the province expects to save as a result of the closure or why the decision was made. No one from the province or provincial court was made available to comment.

At the start of this year, the Weyburn’s Court of Queen’s Bench was closed. The administrative registrar and sheriff ’s offices were transferred to Estevan, meaning that city’s courthouse was covering nearly all of southeast Saskatchewan.

That closure was, according to the province, expected to save $108,000. One administrative assistant was let go and two other positions were transferred to Estevan.

The government said the court’s use had been declining, with only two of last year’s 391 trials being held in Weyburn.

There are still more than 60 circuit point locations in the province.