Tag Archives: courthouse

Bainbridge court staying put?

It looks like the Bainbridge court is staying put.

Poulsbo appears to be nixing the shared court deal after Bainbridge balked at going above an annual $42,500 lease rate. Click here for more details.

Meanwhile, a group of islanders have come up with a detailed counter proposal aimed fixing up the court’s current Rolling Bay building. Read more about that here.

“The judiciary is an important and necessary part of every government, and I believe it should be in the community it serves,” Jim Kennedy, one of the group’s members, told me yesterday.

An update on negotiations and a proposal by the pro-Bainbridge court group are on the agenda for tonight’s City Council meeting, starting at 7:50 p.m.

We’ll have an update at kitsapsun.com later tonight.

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New Poll: Should the Bainbridge court move to Poulsbo?

What do you think about the proposal to move the Bainbridge municipal court to a shared court facility in the new Poulsbo City Hall?

See the previous POST for the pros and cons, and then cast your vote over to the right.

As for our last poll about the Moran School theater building, head down below for the results…

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Wednesday is judgement day for Bainbridge courthouse

Bainbridge courthouse

The City Council is scheduled to decide on Wednesday whether to begin the process of moving the Bainbridge Island Municipal Court to Poulsbo’s new city hall. The discussion begins at 7 p.m.

The issue drew quite a bit of comment at the last council meeting. Over a dozen people spoke in favor of keeping the courthouse on Bainbridge; none spoke against. Moving it to Poulsbo, they said, would cost residents time and money, dissuade some of the least fortunate from seeking the court’s help, and reflect poorly on the community’s values.

No one at the meeting spoke in favor of moving the court to Poulsbo, but the pro argument is laid out in the Joint Court Task Force’s report. The task force, which is made up of elected officials from both cities, noted that the move will save Bainbridge about $15,000 a year and finally put the court in a building specifically designed for a court (the current Rolling Bay courthouse was designed for retail and storage use).

Read more about the pros and cons in my STORY from Saturday’s paper. There’s also a good debate in the comments section.

Head down below for a packet of documents related to the issue, including a Bainbridge city staff assessment of the Rolling Bay building, the task force’s recommendation and Judge Kate Carruthers’ dissenting view that the courthouse should stay on Bainbridge.

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