Justice Court, District Court plan administrative divorce

After seven years of combining administrative resources, Las Vegas Justice Court and Clark County District Court are headed for a nasty split that could leave taxpayers footing the bill.

The breakup, the result of a rift that has been simmering for months, follows the exchange of tough-talking letters between Steven Grierson, the executive officer of District Court, and Chief Justice of the Peace Karen Bennett-Haron.

On May 21, Grierson informed all 14 justices of the peace that he was directing his staff to "no longer support" any Justice Court administrative functions starting on Aug. 1.

"It is abundantly clear that the consolidation of administrative resources between the courts is no longer beneficial for District Court," Grierson wrote. "There has been a lack of coordination and inclusion that has damaged collegiality, forced unnecessary loyalty divisions, created administrative ambiguity and fractured the strength of the court's unity of effort in managing the complex relationship with other branches of government."

Grierson said Chief District Judge Jennifer Togliatti tried to work with Bennett-Haron to encourage cooperation, but those efforts were largely ignored.

Bennett-Haron responded in writing on May 29.

"While Mr. Grierson's assertions, at first glance, are quite dramatic, they are nevertheless rooted in fiction," she wrote.

Bennett-Haron accused Grierson of deliberately distancing himself from the assistant court administrator responsible for Las Vegas Justice Court.

"This virtual absence of communication resulted in the LVJC assistant court administrator's exclusion from meetings and decisions that impacted LVJC's budget, staffing, information technologies, contracts, vendor services and court programs," she said. "This posture can hardly be described as consolidation."

Grierson told the justices of the peace in his letter that the breakup mainly will affect the use of computer services and human resources that have been shared under an agreement struck in June 2005. Specialty courts and the self-help center at the Regional Justice Center also will be affected.

Togliatti and Bennett-Haron addressed the end of the partnership in a joint statement late Tuesday after inquiries from the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

"Over the past year, the courts have recognized differences in priorities, and differences in how each court intends to achieve their respective goals," the two judges said. ''Since May, the courts have continued to discuss these differences and the impact of the transition.

"We can assure the public that any future changes to the court administration structure impacts internal services and will not negatively impact the public's ability to receive services."

Togliatti and Bennett-Haron added: "The future change in court administration structure comes at no additional cost to the taxpayers."

But Chuck Short, who served as the top administrator for District Court for 15 years until his retirement in September 2008, said the split could end up costing taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars.

"I can guarantee you that within three years, there's going to be additional costs as a result of this separation," Short said. "You're going to end up duplicating administrative responsibilities."

District Court has an annual budget of about $52.5 million, and Justice Court's budget approaches $19 million.

Short, who oversaw the 2005 merger, said Justice Court sought consolidation because it had lost its top administrators and didn't have enough staff to keep the court running.

"Things were falling apart in Justice Court at the time," said Short, now a private consultant. "The court was in disarray."

Short said people were waiting in line up to four hours to pay traffic tickets. Officials also were misplacing court files.

"There was a daily routine of searching for the next day's court records," Short said.

Consolidation helped modernize Justice Court, bringing in a new electronic case management system and improving the methods of collecting fines, Short said.

Lately, however, Bennett-Haron has been voicing concerns that Justice Court has been shut out of the administrative oversight in the joint operations.

In a 2011 Justice Court annual report, Bennett-Haron pointed out three areas where the lower court has been excluded from the decision-making process.

One bone of contention has been the ongoing computer upgrade of how the courts track cases.

An upgrade to the computer system Odyssey was implemented in District Court several years ago, but Justice Court's improvement has lagged behind. Only recently has the Justice Court civil case load been upgraded to Odyssey. Criminal cases are still on the old system.

The annual report said that since 2009, Justice Court has not received status reports about the Odyssey contract, including how Justice Court money is being spent.

"IT (Information Technology) projects are now governed and prioritized exclusively by District Court, rather than by a joint structure as originally contemplated," according to the report.

The report said that it would be best if the contract with Tyler Technologies - the company implementing the change to the Odyssey system - was revised to include itemized billing statements for all Justice Court expenditures.

Grierson described the report in his May letter as "an inaccurate portrayal of the District Court/Justice Court relationship and the District Court employees who have worked tirelessly to support Justice Court's successes."

In their joint statement, Togliatti and Bennett-Haron said administrative resources were merged to "increase the effectiveness and coordination between the courts" at a time when they were "managing tremendous growth.

"Like all government entities facing a drastic reduction in funding and staffing, the courts are facing extraordinary challenges in providing access to justice to our citizens," the judges said. "Every year since the start of the economic crisis, both District Court and Justice Court have demonstrated budget savings.

"As such, both courts have learned to maximize efficiencies and do more with less, and this restructuring will be no different."

Assistant County Manager Jeff Wells, who deals with both courts, shied away from the fray on Tuesday.

"This is a court issue," Wells said in a statement. "However, it is worth noting that the county worked with the courts previously, when they operated separately, just as we do now that they share some operations. We will continue to work with the courts in the future in whichever structure they choose."

Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135. Contact Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.