At the Wellington City Council meeting, which was hosted virtually on June 9, a discussion was had regarding the justice court review and proposal.
Wellington City Mayor Paula Noyes explained that she had been contacted by Judge Jon Carpenter, who wanted to suggest changes to the court system. At the time, she was reluctant for changes, but the city is now in the process of hiring a replacement for a part-time secretary, treasurer and clerk.
After speaking with Judge Carpenter and Helper City Mayor Lenise Peterman, Mayor Noyes stated that she feels that it is a good time to review the options. She questioned whether the court should stay in Wellington or go to the county. With this in mind, she requested a short summary of the finances from Wellington City Recorder Glenna Nelson, who went over numbers, including the citations that were given.
Nelson explained that the number of citations rises and falls throughout the years. In 2019, the citations had tapered down. However, in 2020, they were at 531, and this year, there are more.
Judge Carpenter was also in virtual attendance to speak on the topic, stating that the Carbon County Justice Court covers all of Carbon County except for any jurisdiction that has its own justice court. In 2017, he was appointed to represent both Helper and East Carbon. The work done at the time was to address the needs of those courts. While Helper and East Carbon still have their own courts, Helper decided at that point to ask the county to take over operations.
He remarked that the biggest benefit for Helper through this is that their court is handled in a different way. At the county justice court, there are three full-time clerks that are familiar with the case filing management system. With the jurisdictions running the court, oftentimes there are challenges with high numbers in cases, experience and expectations on knowledge.
Judge Carpenter discussed a number of ways that this decision could be beneficial for the city, with Nelson remarking that there is definitely much to consider, such as time constraints. Helper Mayor Lenise Peterman was in attendance and spoke on behalf of her city, stating that she does believe that it was better for her citizens and staff to have the court move over to the county.
She informed the Wellington City Council that just hearing the staff speak on the relief that they felt with the transition was reaffirming.
Mayor Noyes assured the council and those in attendance that nothing was being voted on during the meeting and those that had questions and concerns were welcome to reach out. Comments and questions will be reviewed and brought back to the council before any decisions are made.