Our Opinion: Explore relocating municipal court

The case to relocate Jefferson City's municipal court in the nearby city annex has merit.

An obstacle is the offices of the city's Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry now occupy the annex. That obstacle could be removed if the parks agency relocates its offices into a planned multipurpose building - a joint venture between the agency and Lincoln University to be located on the school's campus.

The city annex is on Monroe Street one door down from the police department and around the corner from City Hall, where municipal court now is held.

City officials say the proposed relocation is prompted by two concerns: eliminating disruptions of City Hall business and creating adequate space for municipal court operations.

The disruptions are created, in part, because of the security procedures used to conduct municipal court sessions in the council chambers at City Hall.

City Attorney Drew Hilpert explained that on Wednesdays when court sessions are held, locked doors funnel all traffic through a single door where people must pass through a metal detector staffed by security guards.

"It's very unfriendly to the public," Hilpert said. "You have a large amount of people meandering the halls. ... And the noise makes getting work done difficult sometimes."

He also said court sessions may need to be expanded to handle the caseload.

And, although Municipal Judge Cotton Walker said the council chambers are spacious enough to serve as a courtroom, municipal court operations would benefit from more space.

Municipal court include two full-time clerks, two part-time employees, a judge and a prosecutor all sharing the same space, Hilpert said.

Hilpert pointed out because the annex previously served as a bank, the drive-thru window could be restored for convenient payment of parking tickets.

In response to tragic episodes nationwide, public officials have attempted to improve courtroom security and, when feasible, separate court operations from other public business.

The emphasis on precaution and prevention is sensible.

Relocating municipal court to the annex is a concept that deserves to be explored.