Connell may hire Franklin County to provide its municipal court services.
The city and county are discussing the proposed partnership.
Contracting with Franklin County District Court could save Connell money, said Steve Taylor, the city administrator. Connell holds its own Municipal Court one afternoon a month.
Exactly how much Connell would save would depend on the result of city-county discussions, he said.
Taylor got approval to look into the option from the Connell City Council on Monday. County commissioners and the council would have to approve any contract.
And Connell would need to contract with District Court, the county prosecutor's office and indigent defense services, Taylor said.
The county and city are discussing the city's needs and the county's ability to provide services to determine if the idea would work, said Kelly Martin, district court administrator.
The prosecutor and indigent defense services are involved in the talks, she said.
Connell currently contracts with area attorneys for the court and pays $80,000 to $85,000 a year, Taylor said.
Attorney Alan Gunter, of Powell & Gunter in Richland, is the Municipal Court judge, and other law firms provide prosecution and defense services, Taylor said. The city has a court clerk on staff.
Martin said it doesn't appear District Court would need to add staff to handle Connell cases.
District Court is averaging about 900 cases filed per month so far this year, she said. Last year, the average was 960.
If the pattern continues, District Court will have about 10,812 cases filed in 2010. Connell's caseload, which was 362 cases in 2009, is only 3 percent of District Court's current load.
Of Connell's 2009 cases, 101 were misdemeanors and 261 infractions, Taylor said.
He said he hopes to present options to the city council on June 2.
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