Justice Courts, water rights, new education center and affordable housing all come up at county caucus meeting

Local government leaders met with a contingent of Tooele County state legislators at the Capitol yesterday to discuss several issues ahead of the 2008 legislative session. State representatives Jim Gowans and Ronda Menlove, along with state senators Brent Goodfellow and Peter Knudson, were present to listen to a slew of concerns on matters ranging from a state takeover of the Justice Court system to the need for affordable housing.

Tooele County Attorney Doug Hogan voiced his opposition to a plan for a state takeover of local justice courts. Hogan first heard of the proposal earlier this fall when Rick Schwimmer of the State Administrative Office of the Courts made a presentation to a joint meeting of the Utah Prosecution Council and the Statewide Association of Prosecutors. Currently justice courts are established by counties and cities, and have the authority to deal with class B and C misdemeanors, ordinance violations, small claims and infractions. County Justice Court judges are initially appointed by county commissioners then stand for election. City Justice Court judges are appointed by city officials for four-year terms.

Hogan said Schwimmer wanted the state takeover because he believed politics were influencing the appointment and retention of justice court judges. Hogan believes having the judges appointed by the state through the Administrative Office of the Courts will only relocate the politics involved to the state level.

Hogan said proponents of the state takeover also cite complaints that high fines imposed by Justice Court judges are a means to provide income to municipalities, or pay judges' salaries. Hogan said this is untrue, and he believes that a state takeover will not alleviate complaints about fines. He's also concerned that state-appointed judges may not be as interested in the kind of matters that are brought before justice courts.

"We're talking about barking dogs, noisy neighbors and code violations," said Hogan. "We want courts and judges that care about these cases."

Currently there are four justice courts in Tooele County — in Tooele, Wendover, Grantsville and Stockton. The plan presented to Hogan would replace all these judges with one traveling judge for Tooele County.

Senator Knudson said he had heard about the Justice Court takeover proposal, which is being promoted by Utah Supreme Court Justice Ronald Nehring. Knudson told Hogan to "keep his powder dry and get ready for a fight."

County Commissioner Jerry Hurst brought up concerns about water rights.

"I used to think water rights were like other rights, they should be yours forever — but they aren't," said Hurst, questioning the "use it or lose it" state water rights policy.

The policy allows the state to rescind the water rights of someone who does not use their water for a "beneficial purpose" for five years. Hurst suggested the time period should be extended to 10 years with an exemption granted to municipalities that want to buy water rights for future use.

Representative Menlove said she had learned there is also a problem with notification of current property owners about water rights that are in danger of being rescinded for non-use. The five-year clock, according to Menlove, starts upon notification to the owner, meaning if the property is sold during that five-year period, the new owner may not be aware of the water rights in question.

Representative Gowans said he had attended an interim committee meeting earlier in the day where water rights were discussed. Gowans said the proposals before that committee included extended forfeiture of water rights to seven years and included exemptions for municipalities.

Ed Dalton, chairman of the Tooele County Career and Technical Education Partnership Project briefed legislators on plans for the Career and Technology Education Center proposed for Tooele Valley. The center would serve a variety of needs for high school, college and adult education students. Dalton estimated the price tag for the center would be $11 million, and he would like to see the state Legislature kick in a portion of that.

Nano Pedolsky of Valley Mental Health presented the case for a juvenile receiving center in Tooele County. The receiving center would be a place that would temporarily house juvenile lawbreakers while providing initial intake and evaluation. Currently the only options for juvenile judges in Tooele County are home confinement or sending youth to a facility in Salt Lake County. Pedolsky estimated it would cost $422,000 to get the facility up and running.

Jim Peterson, airport development director for Tooele County, presented his case for a $750,000 one-time allocation to build a museum at the historic Wendover Airport.

Karen Kuipers of Tooele County Relief Services expressed concern for 500 people on her organization's waiting list for affordable housing in Tooele. Kuipers said the county has just completed their homeless plan and have forwarded it to the state.

"While there is adequate housing for moderate-income families, there is a need for those at the very low end of the income scale," said Kuipers.

The next legislative caucus meeting for Tooele County will be in January.  

Tim Gillie: tgillie@tooeletranscript.com