Although you can't tell from this approximately 11 AM photo, the courthouse parking lot has lots of empty spaces.
in my quest to discover what’s happening on the “let’s put a branch courthouse in the population center of McHenry County,” I have received some information from 22nd Circuit Court Administrator Dan Wallis:
“The requirements that we have put together are for an area of about 6,000 square feet to accommodate the courtroom, holding area, clerks, court administration, chambers, etc.
“The largest issue is the required parking which we are estimating around 120 parking spaces or more.
“There are plenty of large buildings in the 60,000 square foot range which have ample parking or there are buildings in the 6,000 foot range which have forty parking spaces.
“It is a difficult combination to find.”
At the suggestion of a reader, I also asked about the possibility of night courts for traffic or other purposes. Wallis’ reply follows:
“There are very few night court models around the country.
“I have discussed that issue with the National Center for State Courts and was told that they work only for a very small group of case types.
“One main issue is that it isn’t just the court that is affected by a night court.
“It involves the
- attorneys,
- litigants,
- security/sheriff’s office,
- court services,
- circuit clerk’s office and
- facilities management.
Mostly the village attorneys don’t want another court date at night, and the clerks (well they run the place)…. no chance of finding hide nor hair of them at 4:31 p.m.
Cheap shot at the clerks. Hey! They’re clerks. They work from 8:00AM-4:30PM why on earth should they extend their day (after the court house is closed) because you or somebody like you, can’t arrive to conduct your business during the normal business hours?
I’m sure that if they did have a night court, you’d see a shift created (perhaps with a pay differential) and then they would be there until 9:30PM or whatever. Still, there’d probably be somebody like you complaining that they were still there at 9:31PM to attend to your needs AFTER the courthouse is closed for the night.
Ah, looks like the needs of the PEOPLE are being ignored. It costs a traffic violator one-half to a full day’s work (and pay) to show up for traffic court – multiple times.
Regarding the night clerks, you just hire a different set of clerks to work the night hours. No pay differential needed. Duhhh……
Night court sounds perfect for taxpayers so naturally it will not work!
Real issue with night court IMO is that more sheeple would be inclined to press for trials-since they would have the added convenience of not having to take time off work!
This issue would naturally lead to increases in fees since, let’s be honest, lawyers and judges relish at-home time (just like most everyone else) and would be apt to charge some differential for missing family dinner.
This would most likely trickle down to inflated fees and fines (as a de facto manuever to dissuade people from selecting night court and) for having municipalities and the county enduring addition fees/costs because their employees (officers, deputies and attorneys) would be subject to morning and night court appearances.
Truth be told, night court may not be a viable option….