Justice Courts Rake in the Cash

Justice courts are seen as revenue source

July 17, 2005
Salt Lake Tribune

Ogden administrator Mark Johnson describes a municipal court for his city as a potential cash cow.

Over the past four years, West Valley's court revenues have jumped by half, he told his City Council members last month. Sandy's numbers are up by 32 percent. And Clearfield's revenue has grown by 84 percent.

"There is lots of opportunity, I think, revenue-wise and cost-wise to help our city," Johnson said. "There will be a better focus on these types of cases."

The council agreed, joining Provo earlier this month in planning to open its own municipal justice court. Run by counties and cities, Utah's justice courts now handle almost 75 percent -- and growing -- of all court actions in the state, re-routing more money from state to local use.

Their popularity isn't surprising to attorney Mike Martinez, an outspoken critic of a system he says is driven by money.

"The judges have a budget to meet," he said. "A judge has a predisposition to find people guilty because his job is to raise department revenue."

Martinez has asked the Utah Supreme Court to declare justice courts unconstitutional. He wants the high court to take a new look at an old criticism that justice court judges can't seem to escape: They can't be impartial as long as they are under the control of the cities and counties that hire and fire them.

The appeal Martinez is pursuing began when Christopher Goodman was ticketed for driving without insurance Dec. 12, 2002, in West Jordan. A police officer had been checking the license plates of cars in a Wal-Mart store lot.

When Goodman didn't appear for his initial court date, a judge issued an arrest warrant and added a charge for failing to appear. Judge Ronald Kunz, the city's justice court judge, later heard the trial and convicted Goodman on both counts.

Martinez appealed on Goodman's behalf in 3rd District Court, asking state Judge Stephen L. Roth to find the officer's stop of Goodman illegal and launching a challenge to justice courts. He lost.

To support his appeal, Martinez says judges like Kunz are vulnerable as employees who can be fired for "good cause" -- an undefined term that he argues leaves judges under pressure to raise revenue.

Other criticisms by Martinez:

* Most justice court defendants forfeit bail or plead guilty.

Martinez points to statistics he has submitted to the court. In West Jordan in 2002, Martinez calculates about 12,744 traffic cases were resolved. Of those, 8,376 people forfeited their bail and 3,468 pleaded guilty, he says. In the 120 traffic ticket trials Kunz presided over, no one was found not guilty.

Martinez has similar numbers for the same year in other jurisdictions including Murray, Sandy and Taylorsville. A 2003 report on Salt Lake City's justice court found higher collections of fines and fees and greater conviction rates than the state-run district court, he said.

* The courts generate big profits.

Revenue in West Jordan for 2003-04 totaled more than $1.6 million, with court expenditures of $683,892, he said. Projections for the following year were higher: nearly $1.9 million in fines, with expenses of $669,383.

* Cash-only bail is common but unfair.

He also attacked the practice of requiring those arrested for misdemeanors to post cash-only bail. Salt Lake County Attorney David Yocom has criticized the routine use of the tactic, saying it interferes with the constitutional right to bail.

None of those arguments impressed Judge Roth.

In his ruling, the judge said budgets and conviction rates alone don't prove anything. He also said it was not likely that missing revenue projections would qualify as good cause to fire a municipal judge.

Roth also referred to a city ordinance that makes Kunz answerable to the city manager for any problems with the administration of the court, but states city supervision "shall not . . . infringe upon the . . . judge in the exercise of discretion of judgment. . . ."

Municipal judges are required to adhere to the same ethics and conduct rules as state judges, Roth said, and their salaries are not dependent on convictions.

West Jordan City Attorney Roger Cutler says Martinez' broad-scale attack is doomed to fail. He points to earlier rulings from the Utah Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court upholding the constitutionality of justice courts.

In an unrelated case involving justice courts in January, the justices held they don't violate constitutional prohibitions against double jeopardy or a defendant's right to due process.

City attorney Roger Cutler takes issue with Martinez trying to draw a connection with revenues and verdicts late in the game.

"Frankly, it's a cheap shot," he said. "[Martinez] should have put in a motion to disqualify the judge. . . . He waits until the case is closed and attaches a bunch of junk. It would be very easily demonstrable that you get fair hearings and it's not just a revenue-producing court."

Yet Cutler doesn't say how. He does cite a right to appeal any justice court judge's ruling to the district court as a safeguard for citizens. Few such appeals are pursued. In 2004 statewide, there were 389 criminal and traffic appeals, eight of which went to a jury trial.

Assistant state courts administrator Rick Schwermer, who works as a liaison with justice courts, dismisses the notion that justice court judges cannot be impartial. He notes the Utah Supreme Court can discipline them.

"If that were the case, why do we have people who were acquitted, people who do community service rather than paying a fine, and instead of paying a fine get credit toward treatment?" he asks. "All these kinds of things that arguably take money out of coffers?"

eneff@sltrib.com