Massachusetts' leading judges have announced plans to close 11 courts, including Westfield District Court, and consolidate their operations into other nearby courts.
Westfield District Court Judge Philip ContantBOSTON – At Westfield District Court, the presiding judge says he and other employees work hard to create a culture where people are treated exceptionally well and operations are efficient.
Of the state's 62 district courts outside Boston, the Westfield court generally ranks about No. 39 in the number of criminal complaints, Judge Philip A. Contant said. But the court is among the top 10 in the state in the amount of fees it collects from certain witnesses, and close to the middle in collecting probation fees, he said. Because of its proximity to the Massachusetts Turnpike, the court generally finishes about No. 15 in hearings on infractions for civil motor vehicle tickets.
The court, located in the city's downtown, serves Westfield State University and nine different cities and towns, including Agawam and Westfield and several remote rural communities with small, part-time police departments, the judge said.
Contant said the court is being targeted for closure for one major reason:
"It all comes down to the lease," Contant said. "It's a big lease number."
The state's leading judges, citing a deep budget gap for the Trial Courts, on Tuesday announced plans to close 11 courts across the state, including Westfield District Court, and consolidate their operations into other nearby courts. The closure dates are unclear, but court leaders are preparing documents to provide legislators with the legally required minimum 90 days notice.
The state pays $710,500 a year in rent for Westfield District Court on a lease that expires on Dec. 31. The leases on some other nearby rented courts include $268,875 a year for Holyoke Juvenile Court and $425,410 a year for Orange District Court, according to Joan Kenney, a spokeswoman for the state Supreme Judicial Court. Eastern Hampshire District Court in Belchertown costs the state more – $779,301 a year – but the lease extends out to the end of 2017.
Paul C. Picknelly, president of Monarch Enterprises in Springfield and owner of the building leased for the Westfield court, said he was notified on Tuesday that the state would end its lease. Picknelly said he assumed it was a done deal, and that six months is a typical notice that tenants give landlords.
"I don't feel good about it," he said. "We don't like losing any tenants.''
Paul C. Picknelly stands at Tower Square and looks down Boland Way in Springfield in this 1999 photo.Picknelly said he couldn't rule out converting the Elm Street building into apartments for possible rental to students at Westfield State University, but he said he was not sure that would be the best use. He said it was too early to say how the building would be used if the court is relocated from the building it has occupied since 2002.
Picknelly's brother, Peter A. Picknelly, owns a building at 27 Washington St. in Westfield that is being upgraded into new apartment-style housing aimed at attracting students from the Westfield state campus. That building was once used for Westfield District Court.
Court officials said they are currently unsure of precisely how Westfield District Court's 22 employees will be redeployed to other courts. Communities could be shifted into the jurisdiction of district courts in Chicopee, Holyoke or Great Barrington, court officials said.
Housing Court Chief Judge Steven D. Pierce of Westfield, the co-chair of a seven-member Court Relocation Committee, said the decision to consolidate Westfield District Court had nothing to do with the performance of the court. Pierce, who has lived almost all his life in Westfield, said it came down to economics.
"It's a very expensive lease," Pierce said. "That's a significant amount of money to be saved."
A 1967 graduate of Westfield High School, Pierce said he used to practice as a lawyer in Westfield District Court when it operated in another building.
Pierce, former minority leader in the state House of Representatives from 1987 to 1991, said it "presented a challenge" to help lead a committee that recommended the relocation of a court in his hometown. Pierce said it was his responsibility to look at court consolidations in a broad and objective way irrespective of past associations.
Housing Court Chief Judge Steven Pierce of Westfield was co-chair of a court relocation committee that recommended relocation of the Westfield District Court.Pierce conceded that the committee last year recommended the consolidations of 14 courthouses, but Westfield District Court was not mentioned until the bombshell announcement on Tuesday. The committee's public hearing for Western Massachusetts was in Worcester in August.
Contant said the Westfield court is receiving a lot of support from local political, municipal and community leaders. Contant said Trial Court leaders should hold a local public hearing on the planned closure.
Contant said the state should explore alternatives such as purchasing the court's Elm Street building.
In a letter to the governor on Tuesday, 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.
Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Murray on Wednesday reaffirmed that the governor will continue to exercise his constitutional authority to appoint judges and clerks. Murray also called on court officials to spell out possible cost savings for closing and relocating a court.
"I think it is owed to the public and those communities that they impact, what the specific dollar savings would be in closing that, and the cost associated with relocating it so we can have a cost-benefit analysis for the people," Murray said.
The top judges said the court closures are necessary after the Trial Court lost $96 million, or almost 16 percent, of its funding in the last three years, including a $24.2 million cut that Gov. Deval L. Patrick signed into law on Monday.
Judge Robert A. Mulligan, the state's chief judge for administration and management, said the court system cannot operate 101 courthouses and accept new judges after losing 1,126 employees, including 250 court officers, mostly through attrition and retirements since July 2007. Mulligan said the state will save in excess of several million dollars by ending leases, but the relocations are primarily driven by a lack of personnel for clerks' offices and to provide security.
"We have such a reduced number of people in our organization that we can no longer maintain all of these courthouses," Mulligan said over the phone.
Chicopee District Court Judge Mary E. Hurley-Marks said "there are no easy answers" to budget problems for the Trial Courts.
"You have to look for ways to cut a huge amount of money," she said. "That comes with pain, discomfort and loss of quality."
Sen. Stephen M. Brewer, D-Barre, the chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, said some courthouses have outlived their usefulness. Brewer said he will be looking for "a solid analysis" on why courts should be consolidated.
Brewer said it is too early to say if legislators will craft a plan to attempt to prevent the planned court closures.
"When we said we were going to be making tough choices in this budget, it wasn't political hype," Brewer said. "It was the truth."