King County Councilmember Kathy Lambert told The Reporter last week the county had no plans to close the District Court it operates in Issaquah.

A rumor that the King County District Court, located at 220th Avenue Southeast, could close in the near future surfaced at a City of Sammamish council meeting last month.

Sammamish is considering discontinuing its contract with the county for District Court services and contracting with the City of Issaquah to use the Issaquah Municipal Court it funds and operates.

Both the Issaquah Municipal Court and the King County District Court in Issaquah handle the same types of cases – infractions and misdemeanors, primarily simple assaults, DUIs that don’t cause damage or injury, petty shoplifting cases, as well as contested traffic infringements.

A study by the City of Sammamish Finance Department found that had they been paying Issaquah for court services instead of the county, they would have saved about $25,000 in 2008.

The cities of Snoqualmie and North Bend currently contract with Issaquah for court services.

During Sammamish’s study of their court options, City Manager Ben Yazici said the city should also be considering the possibility that the county would close its court in Issaquah, as it seeks costs savings in a time of economic crisis. Declining revenues have reduced the King County budget by $150 million over the past two years, and, according to Lambert, $80 million in additional cuts are expected in 2012.

Should it close, Sammamish police officers would have to travel to the District Courts in Redmond and Shoreline, to transport prisoners and attend hearings, adding to the amount of time they were out of the city and out of service.

Lambert said this was the first she had heard of a possible closure of the Issaquah facility, and after checking with county judicial staff said there were definitely no plans to close the District Court here.

According to the District Court Presiding Judge Barbara Linde, the rumor about a possible closure may have resulted from some study the county did in 2008 to try and find cost savings.

“We were working with the Facilities Management Division to determine if there was a way to defray the high costs of the Issaquah lease,” Linde said. “As part of that effort we had discussions with both the City of Issaquah and the City of Sammamish about the fact that we may be interested in having a partner buy or lease a portion of the courthouse. Fortunately, the management division found a way to do a refinance of the Issaquah debt, which lowered the lease costs, and that was the end of any discussions about the Issaquah courthouse.”

Linde said she was surprised to read that Sammamish was worried about a possible closure.

“We will be sure to correct this erroneous impression with the City of Sammamish, and will do everything we can to keep the city satisfied with the Interlocal Agreement for district court services.”

Lambert said that, under the leadership of Judge Linde, the district court had improved its efficiency.

“The court has implemented technology and won some national awards,” she said “They have done with far fewer employees and used that as a catalyst to look at new ways to do things. They have a great drug court and mental health court that has changed lives in so many positive ways too.”

Sammamish is one of 12 cities currently contracting with the county for District Court Services in Issaquah. Those cities have the option to terminate the agreement, with 18 months notice. That 18 month notice date comes up later this year. According to Linde, court staff were reaching out to each of these cities, to ensure they are satisfied with King County District Court’s provision of services.

“We keep a close eye on costs to help our city partners keep costs down,” she said.

At a Sammamish City Council study session in March, Administrative Services Director Mike Sauerwein displayed figures that indicated Sammamish would have spent considerably less on court costs at the Issaquah Municipal Court over the past couple of years.

In 2008, Sammamish received $91,616 in court-related revenues (tickets and fines, essentially) but paid $101,026 in court costs, for a total cost of $9,410.

Using existing Issaquah Municipal Court fees for the same period, Sammamish would have received $72,857 in revenues and paid $56,152 in costs, coming out $16,705 ahead.

City of Sammamish staff are currently researching the impact of changing its court contract.