Judge Nicholson discusses new municiple court building
Citing the long-standing need to upgrade the Cambridge Municipal Court facilities, Judge John Mark Nicholson spoke to the Cambridge Lions Club about the status of the efforts to build a new facility. “We hope that we can advertise for bids this fall.”
“We don’t want to burden the city’s taxpayers,” Nicholson said. “The Ohio Revised Code provides that municipal courts can acquire additional facilities through a fee to fund operations.” The ORC provides that additional fees may be added to the fines and court costs assessed to violators of traffic laws and other misdemeanors.
“The additional fees are deposited with the city treasurer into a ‘special projects fund’ and can only be spent for that project,” Nicholson said. “It’s the same idea as a family setting aside money for a new home so that they don’t have to finance as much.”
“We have already paid cash for the former Park School site and for the architects’ plans developed by Davis Architectural Group,” Nicholson said. “We have nearly a third of the funds set aside for the actual building.”
The plans call for a one-floor building that will comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). They include a provision for future expansion of the building. “It was difficult to find a site within the city limits that was big enough for the building and for adequate parking spaces,” Nicholson said.
The municipal court project was put on hold in 2004 because of a marked decrease in fees collected by the court. “We have analyzed the revenues and projected future collections and we think we are ready to proceed with the project,” said Nicholson. “Mayor Tom Orr, City Services Director Bob Ley, and City Engineer Paul Sherry are all in agreement that we are about ready to get started with the building process.”
“We’ve known since the seventies that we need to have a better facility for the court,” Nicholson said. “I could hold court in a tent if I needed to. We have been able to avoid being sued for non-compliance with the ADA because we have a plan in place to build the new court building.”
People who need to be present at the municipal court who have concerns about accessibility can contact the court with forty eight hours notice and other arrangements will be made to accommodate their needs.
“We think it is time to build the new municipal court building,” Nicholson said. “It’s one thing to do something like this when it’s your own money, but it’s scary when it’s public money. We have tried to be conservative with our planning so that we don’t have to burden the tax payers.”
“The municipal court has jurisdiction throughout Guernsey County. I-70 and I-77 have a tremendous amount of traffic. Fees from traffic offenses are helping to pay for the new court building.”
“We don’t want to burden the city’s taxpayers,” Nicholson said. “The Ohio Revised Code provides that municipal courts can acquire additional facilities through a fee to fund operations.” The ORC provides that additional fees may be added to the fines and court costs assessed to violators of traffic laws and other misdemeanors.
“The additional fees are deposited with the city treasurer into a ‘special projects fund’ and can only be spent for that project,” Nicholson said. “It’s the same idea as a family setting aside money for a new home so that they don’t have to finance as much.”
“We have already paid cash for the former Park School site and for the architects’ plans developed by Davis Architectural Group,” Nicholson said. “We have nearly a third of the funds set aside for the actual building.”
The plans call for a one-floor building that will comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). They include a provision for future expansion of the building. “It was difficult to find a site within the city limits that was big enough for the building and for adequate parking spaces,” Nicholson said.
The municipal court project was put on hold in 2004 because of a marked decrease in fees collected by the court. “We have analyzed the revenues and projected future collections and we think we are ready to proceed with the project,” said Nicholson. “Mayor Tom Orr, City Services Director Bob Ley, and City Engineer Paul Sherry are all in agreement that we are about ready to get started with the building process.”
“We’ve known since the seventies that we need to have a better facility for the court,” Nicholson said. “I could hold court in a tent if I needed to. We have been able to avoid being sued for non-compliance with the ADA because we have a plan in place to build the new court building.”
People who need to be present at the municipal court who have concerns about accessibility can contact the court with forty eight hours notice and other arrangements will be made to accommodate their needs.
“We think it is time to build the new municipal court building,” Nicholson said. “It’s one thing to do something like this when it’s your own money, but it’s scary when it’s public money. We have tried to be conservative with our planning so that we don’t have to burden the tax payers.”
“The municipal court has jurisdiction throughout Guernsey County. I-70 and I-77 have a tremendous amount of traffic. Fees from traffic offenses are helping to pay for the new court building.”
posted by Mane Lion at
11:18 AM
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