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Resolutions were passed by several municipalities in support of a suburban court facility. Three • communities also attempted to quantify the added costs to taxpayers if a suburban court was not available. The added costs provided were: $6,135; $10,866 and $40,353. Several options were presented by Chief Judge Mott in a flow chart on August 25`h. The options were color-coded to make it easier to follow. The preferred option was green. Attached is the flo~~~ chart showing only the green option with the activities performed at each location. The '`Green" Option for the Second Judicial .District CburtMsystem reduces the locations from which the Court operates by two, the West Building and Regions. A summary of the major changes includes: 1) Building out one additional courtroom at the LEC to make room for all St. Paul arraignments, thereby eliminating the need for duplicate arraignment staff at the Courthouse and the LEC; 2) Building a new suburban court facility for non-custody suburban arraignments, pre-trials and court trials and jury trial calendar call; 3) Eliminating the Courts location at Regions by moving civil commitments from Regions to the Courthouse; and 4) Eliminating the Courts location at the West Building by remodeling at the Courthouse to accommodate moving family court, child support magistrate and harassments out of the West Building. • Below I will outline one potential option to assist in addressing the concerns and responsibilities of both Ramsey County and the Courts: 1) Implement the green option at a total annual cost of approximately $310,000. This option would eliminate the duplicate arraignment staff (4 to 6 FTEs) at the LEC and Courthouse. Unlike the arraignment staff, the cost savings for moving the operation at Regions to the Courthouse was not mentioned. 2) Establish a Facilities Fee to be collected by the Courts on filings deemed appropriate after discussion with the Courts to equal at least the cost of the additional expenses associated with the green option. It should be noted that the total facilities cost to Ramsey County for the current court facilities is approximately $2.7 million. Darwin Lookingbill indicated that language in the charter as well as Minnesota Statute 383A.22 appears to allow for the establishment of such a fee without the need for legislati~~e action. 383A.22 Fee system. Subdivision 1. The board of county commissioners, after a public hearing, may establish a system. of fees or charges for recording, filing, certification or providing copies of an instrument, document or other paper, or for the services of a county office, official, department, or employee thereof, or a court system located entirely inside the county. • Second District Filings for 1997 - 2002 were forwarded by Sue Conde from Larry Dease's office. The total filings for 2002 were 327,143. As you can see from the attached document.