Legislators approved a measure that would require a new civilian court administrator to take a fresh look at planned courthouse closures around the state.
Westfield District CourtBOSTON – The state House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a bill that includes a measure that could at least delay the planned closure of Westfield District Court and other courthouses around the state being eyed for consolidations to save money.
The measure was tucked into $506 million spending bill that also includes $10 million for communities to fund repairs from the June 1 tornadoes, $300,000 to keep open a state laboratory at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst that tests illegal drugs seized by municipal police in Western Massachusetts and $100,000 for the Friends of the Homeless in Springfield to pay for increased numbers of people who needed assistance following the tornadoes.
The House voted 147-1 in support of the bill, which allocates $460 million surplus from the fiscal year that ended June 30. The state Senate is expected to approve the bill on Thursday.
A measure in the bill would force state Trial Court leaders to take a new look at plans to close a dozen of the state’s courthouses including Westfield District Court.
Judge Robert MulliganUnder the measure, no courthouse proposed for closure could be shut down until it is approved by a new civilian court administrator who has yet to be hired. The measure says the new administrator would need to give 90 days notice to top legislators of any court closings. The administrator’s position, created under a new law that overhauls hiring in state government and the probation department, would need to file a report that would include the specific reasons for the closure, the cost savings and a plan to provide services to people affected by such closure.
The measure would trump a similar report filed by the state's top administrative judge, Robert A. Mulligan, in early August for providing 90 days notice for closing Westfield District and other courthouses.
Court administrators and lawmakers say the planned closure of Westfield District poses a particular logistical nightmare because it serves a large geographic area including several hill towns that do not have a highway nearby.
“If you asked the Boston police to drive 39 miles to bring their prisoners to court, no one would even think of it,” said Judge Philip A. Contant, the senior justice at the Westfield court. “Some of these people calling the shots in Boston have no concept of the geography involved here.”
Massachusetts State Sen. Michael R. Knapik, R-WestfieldSen. Michael A. Knapik, R-Westfield, said the new civilian court administrator may not be hired until July, when a new 90-day notice of closures would be filed.
“It’s certainly a very favorable short-term reprieve,” Knapik said, adding that he expected the court-related measure to pass in the Senate on Thursday and be signed by the governor shortly after. “We weren't sure we could gather the data we needed in 90 days. This is an access to justice issue.”
Knapik said part of Westfield’s vulnerability was that is has a $710,000 annual lease associated with it and is hopeful the state will be able to renegotiate that for cost savings.
However, Contant said he is hoping for a longer-term solution that will get the courthouse out from under a private landlord and save it a certain amount of fiscal scrutiny in the future if it survives.
Paul C. Picknelly, president of Monarch Enterprises in Springfield and owner of the building on Elm Street, said he may consider converting the building to student housing to serve Westfield State University but did not rule out negotiating with the state. Contant said he hopes a lease-to-buy or taking by eminent domain will be considered.
According to Mulligan’s report, the operations of Westfield District would be consolidated into district courts in Chicopee, Holyoke and in Great Barrington. The 26 employees at Westfield District would be assigned to different courts. The Westfield District serves nine cities and towns, including Agawam and Westfield.
Municipal leaders and state legislators said on Wednesday they are pleased with the $10 million for helping pay for June 1 tornado damage, even if the money falls short of funding all municipal costs not covered by federal reimbursements.
Peter Judge, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, said it’s unclear if the $10 million will be sufficient to cover all municipal costs for the June 1 tornadoes. The federal government is expected to pay for 75 percent of the costs and the remaining 25 percent could be paid by municipal or state governments.
Judge said no decisions have been made about how to divide the $10 million.
In Western Massachusetts, Springfield alone is estimating the city’s costs to be $106.2 million, including $64.9 million for rebuilding the Dryden, Brookings and Zanetti elementary schools and the South End Community Center, as well as overtime for employees, debris removal and demolishing city-owned properties.
Rep. Todd M. Smola, a Palmer Republican, said that Brimfield is estimating it’s costs from the tornado at $700,000.
Smola said the $10 million will help a lot.
West Springfield Mayor Edward J. Gibson said the community is facing tornado-related costs of just under $1 million. Gibson estimated that West Springfield would be eligible to receive a little less than $250,000 from the $10 million approved by the House on Wednesday.
Most of the costs stem from debris removal, cutting and removing trees from public streets and some damage to roads and sidewalks. “Anything, even if it falls a little short, is going to be a shot in the arm,” Gibson said of the state money.
Rep. Brian M. Ashe, a Longmeadow Democrat whose district includes Monson, which was hit hard by the tornadoes, said the $10 million may not cover all municipal costs after federal reimbursements, but it’s “a good faith gesture” and shows the state is moving quickly to help communities.
William J. Miller, executive director of the Friends of the Homeless, said he was also very pleased the organization would receive $100,000 in the bill. An average of 150 people stay each day in shelters in Springfield operated by the Friends of the Homeless.
Staff writer Stephanie Barry contributed to this report.