The presiding judge of Westfield District Court said employees would be relocated to either Chicopee or Holyoke district courts.
Westfield District Court Judge Philip A. Contant listens to speaches during law day ceremonies at the Hampden County Superior Court in Springfield in May.BOSTON – Leaders of the Massachusetts court system said they are planning to close Westfield District Court and move operations to Chicopee or Holyoke and Great Barrington, in the wake of a state budget that is "devastating."
Westfield District Court Judge Philip A. Contant said he understood that the courthouse would be closed in about 90 days and that operations and its 22 employees will be moved to either Chicopee or Holyoke district courts.
Westfield District Court is among 11 courthouses slated for closure and relocation of employees and cases, court leaders said Tuesday in a press release.
Westfield District Court would be the only courthouse in Hampden, Hampshire or Franklin counties to close.
Contant said he believed that Westfield District was chosen for a planned closure because it is a leased courthouse and officials can save money by ending the lease. The current annual lease cost for Westfield is $710,500, according to Joan Kenney, a spokeswoman for the state Supreme Judicial Court.
"There was no advance warning that this decision was going to be made," Contant said in a phone interview.
"I'm surprised that all of a sudden, we are on a list and there was no discussion about it."
The court's jurisdiction includes nine communities. Agawam, Southwick, Tolland, Westfield, Blandford, Chester, Granville, Montgomery and Russell. All are served by the Westfield court.
Contant said local police and citizens will be hurt by the planned closure.
He said some of the more rural communities -- Chester, Blandford and Granville, for example -- could be served by Southern Berkshire District Court in Great Barrington.
"It's another huge hit," Contant said. "It's going to be a major inconvenience for the community and the cities and towns that we serve."
Police will be tied up for a longer time with cases since they will need to travel farther to another courthouse, Contant said. With a lack of public transportation, it could be difficult for people to travel to Chicopee or Holyoke, he said.
In a letter to the governor, Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Roderick L. Ireland and the six other judges on the high court asked the governor to place a moratorium on appointments of judges and clerk magistrates for the rest of this fiscal year in order to save money. They said three support personnel would need to be laid off for every appointment of a judge or clerk magistrate.
Gov. Deval Patrick signed a state budget on Monday that includes $519.9 million, a reduction of $24.2 million from the previous year, for the Trial Court. The judges said the budget is probably actually about $509 million since they said the budget contains unrealistic assumptions about collecting fees from people who use the courts.
The letter by the justices said the budget will have "a devastating impact" on the Trial Courts. They said the Trial Court has cut 1,115 jobs over the past three years. More than 60 percent of the state's courts lack the necessary staff to ensure safe, effective and efficient delivery of justice, they said.
In a statement, Mark Reilly, chief legal counsel for Patrick, said the justices' letter is confusing at best.
"As of last week when the budget numbers were known, more than one trial court chief judge continued their active lobbying of our office to fill judicial vacancies," Reilly said. "In light of that plea to appoint more judges, we are surprised by today’s claim that the courts cannot manage their fiscal affairs without this attempt to constrain the Governor's constitutional authority. We look forward to their explanation. In the meantime, the Governor will continue to exercise the powers granted to him by the Constitution of this Commonwealth."