HomeMy WebLinkAbout1485RESOlUTION NO. L!il_5
A RESOlUTION of the City Council of the City
of Kent, urging Metropolitan King County to implement
a fully functional and operational judicial facility upon
opening the Regional Justice Center in the City of Kent.
WHEREAS, Metropolitan King County ("King County") is rapidly
approaching completion of its new Regional Justice Center ("RJC") in the City of
Kent, Washington, at a total cost of more than $160 million; and
WHEREAS, from its inception, this regional justice facility was
intended to be a fully functional and operational courthouse, complete with a jail,
criminal court facility, and civil court facility; and
WHEREAS, since approximately January 1, 1996, a significant portion
of all civil and criminal case filings in King County have been designated for
assignment to the Regional Justice Center in Kent and, as of mid-1996, King County
has projected that up to 3,114 filings each month will meet the RJC/Kent case
assignment criteria; and
WHEREAS, King County has indicated it may not fully build out and
furnish all planned courtrooms potentially available within the new RJC facility; and
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WHEREAS, without fully building out these courtrooms, the RJC in
Kent will not be able to accommodate the full civil case load that is now designated
for this site; and
WHEREAS, King County's promise of convenient access to civil courts
for South King County jurors, litigants and witnesses constituted a valuable
determining factor in accepting the RJC and jail site in Kent; and
WHEREAS, it has recently been proposed that King County complete
three of the four remaining courtrooms that still require full build out and furnishing
so that the RJC can have six civil judges regularly in session rather than three at the
time the facility opens; and
WHEREAS, the City of Kent regards the civil component of the RJC
facility to be equally important to the criminal case component and the jail
component; NOW, THEREFORE,
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KENT, WASHINGTON, DOES
HEREBY RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1: The foregoing recitals are incorporated as if fully set
forth herein.
SECTION 2: All available courtrooms in King County's Regional
Justice Center should be fully built out and furnished to accommodate the civil and
criminal case loads now designated for assignment to the RJC in Kent.
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. . .
SECTION 3: King County should take appropriate action to assure
that at least six civil judges be assigned to the RJC to accommodate the civil case
load currently assigned to Kent.
SECTION 4: King County has consistently represented to City of Kent
government and the citizens of Kent that the Regional Justice Center would, from its
inception, be a fully functional and operational courthouse. Accordingly, King
County should take all actions necessary to assure that the type and nature of cases
assigned to the RJC in Kent be proportionately balanced between civil and criminal
cases in accordance with the actual filings entered in the King County court system
since January 1, 1996.
Passed at a regular meeting of the City Counci I of the City of Kent,
Washington this /5 day of Oc.:I-EJ bc.AJ, 1996.
Concurred in by the Mayor of the City of Kent, this I b day of
([)~ ,1996
ATTEST:
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APPROVED AS TO FORM:
I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of Resolution No.
Ltf~ 5, passed by the City Council of the City of Kent, Washington, the __b5_ day
of {Qc;hfteJ , 1996.
RJC.res
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~SEAL)
ER CITY CLERK