Judge Russell Bean
City Court Judge Russell Bean today defended the operation of the court, saying the current two-judge structure had cut way down on overtime and accommodated citizens.
He also said he disagrees that one General Sessions Court judge handles almost as many cases as the two city judges in a week.
Judge Bean said, "It was only three years ago that the city of Chattanooga decided it needed a second judge. This was because the court docket was running from 8:00 a.m. until very late at night, sometimes 10:00 or 11:00 p.m. There was a tremendous amount of police overtime and there were citizens complaining that they had to stay in court too long and too late.
"Since the establishment of the 2nd Division, the docket has been controlled so that there is much less overtime and citizens who have to come to court are in and out in a reasonable manner and time. We feel as though the City Court is very functional.
"Of course, the state is in a budget crisis and the governor has called for a 9% across the board reduction by the municipalities. I have voluntarily cut my budget for next year with a 28.65% decease in Purchased Services. Since there is this budget crisis and since Judge Williams is leaving, I think that Mayor Corker rightfully called for an audit and performance review of the court and the clerk's office.
"However, I do take issue with some of the facts as stated by the audit:
"Page 6 of the auditor's report states that in the Chattanooga Courts, appearance is required for citations involving accidents, school zone violations, speeding in access of 26 mph, drivers license charges, reckless driving and other matters. The report infers that this should not be done or corners could be cut. I certainly don't think that corners can be cut in these areas. Where there is an accident people want to know whether the other driver was at fault, whether or not the other person has insurance, and who is going to repair the damages. Where there is excess speed and particularly where there are young drivers, it is necessary to bring those cases before the court so that they can be lectured, sent to defensive school, look at a video, or have their license taken.
"I think the auditor is looking at the case basically from a statistical standpoint, whereas the court is looking at administering justice.
"I feel the report has misrepresented the number of cases the City Court of Chattanooga handles in comparison with Sessions Court. The audit uses the week of January 6, 2003 as an example. It says that the two City Judges had a docket of 1,230 cases that week excluding the parking docket. In the same one week period, he says one Sessions Judge had a docket of 1,067 cases. To start with I don't think you can exclude the parking docket as those are cases that are heard or decided upon. Taking the audit figures at face value, each City Judge would have heard 120 cases daily, plus parking cases. Secondly, there are five Sessions Judges, so the auditor's inference is that each of these Sessions Judges share 1000 cases per week. My calculations reflect that this would be 5,000 cases in Sessions Court a week or around 20,000 a month, which would total to 240,000 cases in a years time. The records just definitely don't bear this out. John, I think if you will check with Sessions, you will see that they have pretty much an equal case load with the City Court Judges.
"In other words, dividing their docket by five and dividing the City Court docket by two, I think you are going to come out with a fairly close comparison. The auditor's report was inferring that one Sessions Judge handles as many cases as all of City Court. That is incorrect.
"I do believe that the Sessions Judges work hard and earn their keep. However, I wanted to clarify that the comparison was totally incorrect.
"Obviously, if budget cuts can be made and still there be an efficient clerk's office and court system, I support that."