- Judge Megan Stiverson has warned of a lawsuit if Hillsdale County doesn't firm up plans on where to relocate the District Court.
- She's concerned District Court won't have a building in Hillsdale when its current lease expires.
- County Board Chair Mark Wiley says the Court should rest assured: a building will be provided — most likely at 25 Care Drive, as planned.
WATCH THE VIDEO TO SEE WHERE THINGS STAND:
"Access to justice is really my biggest concern at this point in time," says Stiverson.
The building that currently houses the District Court has been sold to a private developer.
Stiverson says the current facilities pose security problems and make it difficult to accommodate the public, juries, and other participants. Now she's talking with me about concerns over the County's plans to relocate the Court.
"We need some type of a resolution or assurance that's something more than, you know, a conversation," says Stiverson. "And that's all I'm getting so far. Reassurances and conversations, but not action."
County Commissioners have planned to have 25 Care Drive as the future home of the Court.
A vote to finalize that has not happened. And they recently extended the lease for the existing tenant by five years. The lease on the District Court'scurrent building runs out before then.
Stiverson has said to the Commissioners that she and the other justices are prepared to take legal action against the County Board.
Stiverson says: "I think that that has to be the next logical step. At some point, there's going to be a catalyst — and perhaps the catalyst is that I come up at the end of the lease here with the District Court and there's literally not a place to house a branch of government."
I went to Board Chair Mark Wiley to ask him whether there is a reason for District Court judges to be worried about not having a place to go.
Wiley said: "No. They shouldn't be worried, because it's a process, and we're going through the process of establishing a new building or location for them."
Wiley says, "in all likelihood", 25 Care Drive will be the new home of the Court.
The County says adapting the building for the Court will likely take at least a year. Commissioner Doug Ingles, Chair of the Facilities Committee, says the new lease on 25 Care Drive allows both sides to end the lease with 180 days' notice.
SEE OUR PREVIOUS COVERAGE OF THE ISSUE HERE AND HERE.
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