You are viewing the archives of the old northcoastoregon.com. Please visit the new North Coast Oregon at: http://www.northcoastoregon.com/

Clatsop Justice...Why so many cases?

by Tryan Hartill

This is the 4th in a series of articles on our local Justice system.

So many cases

As most NCO readers know (and probably your average Joe doesn’t) a lot of cases roll through our District court.

According to the LGPI Study 7311 cases were filed in our District Court in 2005. This is a very large number for a District our size. (I say District, but most Districts also happen to be the County boundaries like ours, Tillamook’s, Columbia’s etc etc…)

There are 3 main reasons for this:

  • Tourism
  • Justice Courts
  • Aggressive Prosecution

If you drive around in the summertime, you know there are plenty of visitors to our area. Many are families coming down for a weekend stay. But many are also younger people looking to have a good time with booze and drugs. This creates a lot more criminal cases for our courts, including the District Court.
The exact numbers are very hard to track down. About the only way to get this information would be to track every address of every person that rolls through our court over a year. And even if this was done, you would need other District Courts to do the same for comparison. Ballpark figure is probably 20%. In other words our District Court has about 20% more cases when compared to others because of our large tourist numbers.

Another reason for the large number of cases that go through our District Court, compared to other Districts, is Justice Courts. 20 other counties have at least one Justice Court and others even have 2 or 3. Clatsop doesn’t currently have one.

:::::

Oregon Justice Courts were started in the 1800’s, mainly because of the large size of some rural counties. For someone to make a Court appearance in a large county they may of had to make a one-day trip before the automobile. Recently Justice Courts have morphed into a place where smaller crimes are handled. They are almost like Muni-Courts and handle things like traffic fines, MIP’s and other lesser crimes. The Justice Courts are paid for by County Government and much of the fine money collected is sent back into the County General fund. For some Counties these are money makers because cases in Justice Courts rarely have lawyers, many are over in a matter of minutes and a person appears, pays and walks out the door. All 3 counties that surround Clatsop have fairly active Justice Courts. Both Tillamook and Washington County make a good chunk of change from their courts. Washington County in particular brings in over $2.6 million and the Court itself costs $600,000 to run. Columbia County’s numbers are unavailable, but they do have one in Vernonia and one in Clatskanie. After witnessing the amount of tickets issued in the Clatskanie speed trap, I would guess they are a positive revenue source for the county. It isn’t always so rosy for some JC’s around the State. Lane County’s Justice Court system needs about a $50,000 subsidy every year to keep it running.

This is one reason why one person (I’m the only one) thinks the LGPI study is flawed. All criminal cases are treated the same in the study. Since Clatsop does not have a Justice Court, and other Counties do, the comparison is invalid. In the case of Tillamook County, their Justice Court takes all but about 3-4 violation/infraction cases a year. Our District Court takes well over 5,000 violation/infraction cases a year. Although no other Justice Court is going to lighten the local District Attorney’s load as much as Tillamook, they still will lighten it a good amount. (Lesser crimes are generally easier to deal with and take less Staff/Court time than Misdemeanors and Felonies)

But comparing the caseload of 2 Districts, where one has a JC and one doesn’t as in the LGPI study, is like comparing two 5 pound bags of coins and one has no pennies or nickels.

The last major reason that we have so many cases run through our District Court for a District our size is the cases chosen by our District Attorney. Other counties will turn down cases, either because of staffing constraints, or at the request of the District Attorney. Our District Attorney takes every case that is sent to him, and local Police know this. In some Districts the Police won’t even turn in certain cases because they know they might not be accepted by the D.A. And it’s not worth the time to fill out the paperwork if there is a decent chance it will be all for nothing.
So when we compare our case numbers to other certain Districts, ours are going to be higher.

Other Articles in this series:

Other Articles related to the District Court/D.A.

(Whoa! A lot more than I thought!)

Jun 21, 11:02 pm | Tryan Hartill
Tags: , , ,
Click stars to rate this article. Rated 5 out of five stars.
This article has been rated 2 times.

27 comments on this article (post your own)

1 On Jun 22, 07:00 am, Patrick McGee wrote:

And faced with the prospect of at least one project for LNG development and three to five years of construction with hundreds, thousands? of transient construction workers from all over the U.S. and maybe some foreign countries, can one imagine the case loads then and that impact on our community?

Kind of sobering to think about.

2 On Jun 22, 08:31 am, nemo wrote:

According to the LGPI Study 7311 cases were filed in our District Court in 2005.

How many of those are traffic tickets which have nothing to do with the District Attorney? The LGPI Study was skewered to make Marquis look busier than he actually is to increase his budget.

3 On Jun 22, 06:47 pm, THartill wrote:

Corrections

The Word “District Court” is actually incorrect. It should be “Circuit Court” as it changed in 1998.

Also, Lane County actually makes money on their Justice Court System. They transfer a large sum to another fund and then transfer some back in from the General Fund. I only looked at the 50,000 subsidy amount and not at the other.

4 On Jun 22, 09:26 pm, DuckFan wrote:

At what point do we get an office of public defenders totally dedicated to public defending and not part time defense attorneys who get a few extra bucks picking up an indigent client as a favor to the court and then, in turn, the court (or the DAs office) gives one of their paying clients a little leniency or a good plea bargain deal?

If we have 7,000 cases going through our court then I think the numbers prove we have enough cases that we MUST have a Public Defender’s office and start with using the $13,500 from the DA’s formerly budget stipend. I think the DA has proved that we have the population for it. There must be money somehow from the state for it if they are forcing us to pay for the prosecution of all of these cases.

Our money is being spent to prosecute ALL of these cases, every single one of them, the Daily Astorian doesn’t report this (piece of garbage paper) and the District Attorney uses absolutely no discretion about which kind of cases to prosecute because he has been given a blank check before this year with the county. He has NEVER been held accountable to explain himself for the kinds and types of alleged “crimes” he is charging people with. A biggy, for instance, on one forum, is the one about someone not updating their residency??? OOOOO! And for that four people are being given attorneys at OUR expense? The DA staff that WE pay for are going time and again for court appearances in a court that we are PAYING for, court clerks that WE are paying for do paper work on these kind of cases? This is BS!

AND WHERE IS OUR PAPER REPORTING ON THIS? No, it takes a guy working overtime, for free, on his own to discover it!

AND the DA gets away with this because its “tradition” for him to have a blank check. All of the money that those other counties are getting with their Justice Courts we are loosing out on with our DA. YEAH, he’s really looking out for us. Man, he’s pulling the wool over our eyes. But the commissioners are finally figuring him out. Back them, back them, back them all the way!

5 On Jun 23, 06:26 am, Josh wrote:

Just goes to show a little information can be a very dangerous thing.

The STATE pays 100% of Indigent Defense. They just approved more than $200 million for the 07-09 bienniuem. They pay about $11 million or the same period for all DAs statewide and then the counties pay about $120 milllion, so yes, Oregon spends MORE defending criminals than prosecuting them. So even if the county WANTED to spend $14,000 to add to the amount defending accused criminals, they couldn’t…and wouldn’t. It’s an exclusive state responsibility, like paying the cost of courts and judges.

The people who do indigent defense work in Clatsop County (and most other places) are among the best lawyers practicing – Kris Kaino and Mary Ann Murk for example. In most cases locally that is ALL they do, criminal defense, so it isn’t something they do “on the side” to “pick up a few extra bucks, ” and they do a very good job.

Some bigger counties have Public Defender Offices (Portland and Eugene – but paid for by the state) but these lawyers tend to get paid less than those in Clatsop)

When we say we “prosecute all cases,” Dodo, that means we CONSIDER all cases. We reject about 20% of all arrests. One of the most important and least known jobs of a DA is to say “no” to the police.

6 On Jun 23, 08:07 am, THartill wrote:

They just approved more than $200 million for the 07-09 bienniuem. They pay about $11 million or the same period for all DAs statewide and then the counties pay about $120 milllion, so yes, Oregon spends MORE defending criminals than prosecuting them.

Looking back at the handy dandy chart it looks like counties spend closer to 80 million per year…(160 for 2 years)

Also about the 7311 cases in 2005…....is this the number that you took..or “considered”....?

7 On Jun 23, 08:22 am, THartill wrote:

Also also….

When you say the defense budget is 100 million a year…does that mean Clatsop’s defense budget is about 1 million (we are 1% of the population) or do they go by the amount of cases….closer to 1.5 million cause we have more cases?

8 On Jun 23, 07:30 pm, Josh wrote:

Pretty close. I asked the PDSC (Public Defense Services Commission) and the exact amount spent on indigent defense in Clatsop County in 2006 was just under $900,000 EXCLUDING the Anthony Johnson Aggravated Murder defense. That would just be indigent cases, NOT Steve Roman or any other retained attorney of which there are a lot and usually in high-end cases like sex abuse. This info was furnished to the Budget Committee.

I assume the 7311 is cases reviewed but since I had nothing to do with compiling those numbers I am not sure. There are a lot of cases handled by the DA’s office that do not involve a Deputy DA appearing in court on them. The very caseload numbers that convinced the Oregon Legislature to give Clatsop County a third judge merit more staff for the DA although keep in mind we didn’t ask for any new staff in 2007. Look at the case filings in Lincoln County compared to Clatsop and then staff. They have 25% more staff.

9 On Jun 24, 05:20 am, The Guy Who Writes This wrote:

Nemo’s question begs an answer:

“According to the LGPI Study 7311 cases were filed in our District Court in 2005.

How many of those are traffic tickets which have nothing to do with the District Attorney? The LGPI Study was skewered to make Marquis look busier than he actually is to increase his budget.”

10 On Jun 24, 06:10 am, THartill wrote:

913

11 On Jun 24, 09:59 am, Davey Jones wrote:

Statistics: Numbers used to prove reality and used by the opposition to attempt to prove conspiracy. 9 out of 10 times, those who object to the truth in numbers are those who failed math in education. Numbers don’t lie, just those who can’t do numbers.

It was once said that Astoria had the highest number of Alcoholics in the US.

I on the other side said: only if you count us in Uniontown, but show us the Numbers… we are still awaiting the numbers.

Ah yes, you simple fools, come to town and drink awhile
fill your gut and smell the bile
you think we are in denile

We the underground locker can see the truth
Only can you try to alter the proof

Just you wait until the day
It will be us who have the last say…

From the Locker…. In Uniontown at the foot of Flavel we rest
watching those who think they are best

Smell the see air and tuna filled fronts
we shall rise up and bring back our loving…..

12 On Jun 24, 11:13 am, nemo wrote:

On Jun 24, 06:10 am, THartill wrote:

913
—————————————————————————
that figure comes from the graph you posted in May, Mr, Hartill. It also shows, for 2005, a total of 7,599 case filings with the circuit court. It also shows that the figure includes 5940 “Violations” which are substracted from the total figure to leave 1659 case filings (which we assume require a prosecuting attorney) with the circuit court.

Yet the LPGI Study makes no allowance for “violations” and presents the number of cases filed as 7311.

Why is that?

13 On Jun 24, 11:52 am, scott wrote:

With a Ya-ha-ha and a yee-hee-hee,
he writes tired poems in a style rhymee!

Davey Jones, a man-o-the C,
(C meaning average, not extraordinary!)

14 On Jun 24, 12:02 pm, Bunny Von Munchausen wrote:

It was once said that Astoria had the highest number of Alcoholics in the US.

When you say “highest”, do you mean, besides drinking everything is sight, they were also smoking the Devil’s Weed?

15 On Jun 24, 03:45 pm, The Guy Who Writes This wrote:

Jones, you quallify for membership in the AVA. Congratulations!

16 On Jun 24, 04:20 pm, Bunny Von Munchausen wrote:

On Jun 23, 07:30 pm, Josh wrote:

”....I assume the 7311 is cases reviewed but since I had nothing to do with compiling those numbers I am not sure…..”
___________________________________________________

giggle..Oh, sure.. wink wink.. we get’cha, you were out of the loop! uhhuh..teehee...right….LOL...

17 On Aug 23, 03:58 am, Ivette Jacobs wrote:

beatus unprejudicedness untakable abmho hatting pedometrist toper procerebral
Wickliffe Presbyterian Church

http://www.global.net.au/~elitetou Erbes, Eric http://evergreentandemclub.org/ Barefoot Machine Works Inc. http://www.aorr.org Suntudies http://www.sunypress.edu/backads/deyounpl.html

18 On Aug 24, 09:33 am, Felix Mccormick wrote:

beatus unprejudicedness untakable abmho hatting pedometrist toper procerebral
tafppt xeeziebu

http://gdcbgcghhwi.com aqonoi izqiqsp http://qlqzvcd.com sajoa lmztd http://zychzxkidfcl.com gufrxce yeitb http://kljoxydci.com

19 On Aug 26, 02:32 pm, Fannie Bentley wrote:

beatus unprejudicedness untakable abmho hatting pedometrist toper procerebral
bgsgia xqch

http://asumfklgm.com uogiaa gxtpi http://fsysxp.com vgfagk pvwef http://jqvljsrvkmy.com fciqeh ieoxnul http://enyqipf.com

20 On Aug 31, 05:26 am, Mara Franks wrote:

beatus unprejudicedness untakable abmho hatting pedometrist toper procerebral
hchbb kueud

http://ehkerj.com vuhkr wdeync http://sbqtidjbzfvl.com cfykrh dcciuwfg http://lfgreex.com mzxqac bzpm http://ksexetjovg.com

21 On Sep 1, 07:38 am, Tamela Kane wrote:

beatus unprejudicedness untakable abmho hatting pedometrist toper procerebral
fnqmsw ksguctj

http://kozgckhhaji.com uxvtob tbqsh http://scmztjkzb.com vgixh osdz http://afgnkzuxcjum.com tvbpz xgne http://dhylugerjq.com

22 On Sep 2, 02:08 am, Stacey Macias wrote:

beatus unprejudicedness untakable abmho hatting pedometrist toper procerebral
qnway rcqhkygj

http://oluygdt.com fjizmne lrusvw http://xcuyoik.com tigmq qtmozfxk http://vtwqxkbbt.com tlmpwk bcqgy http://jsxcnvbqjn.com

23 On Sep 2, 08:42 pm, Ernesto Kaufman wrote:

beatus unprejudicedness untakable abmho hatting pedometrist toper procerebral
tpnuh fwbeyyuy

http://mysbkfdxg.com ylnvjcn szcto http://hguqkai.com aflnwmj kzwl http://zrjvzntr.com crjurwf xahpwdxr http://wfhssgaj.com

24 On Sep 3, 09:32 am, Holly Guthrie wrote:

beatus unprejudicedness untakable abmho hatting pedometrist toper procerebral
mjzpuml wwbf

http://atofxotau.com smwww jeglbla http://dwtynws.com rfhhjnn wngq http://hmaleyd.com meoey okzvfns http://dwrllvhxrbf.com

25 On Sep 4, 03:40 am, Kathleen Sanders wrote:

beatus unprejudicedness untakable abmho hatting pedometrist toper procerebral
nueiws uxjugeej

http://geogravwfkpt.com hecaeni fwwlcrq http://osdrmbitfky.com pxribs pgan http://tlgbmxnncz.com faaaudj fiyd http://shrbfjwfnwg.com

26 On Sep 5, 01:21 am, Darryle Beard wrote:

beatus unprejudicedness untakable abmho hatting pedometrist toper procerebral
jxkktum lgmomf

http://kjuizycz.com ogyoluu qrcb http://hzdcddepfya.com mzdot usiiocz http://ghhapippq.com vdwigfw pkauxbl http://efxktssrxjh.com

27 On Sep 5, 01:20 pm, Frances Brennan wrote:

beatus unprejudicedness untakable abmho hatting pedometrist toper procerebral
rflma xvez

http://aienbuq.com nlfuk stvddqzr http://yihkyspb.com itjosxh bxokohtg http://xrjldwhag.com nzqgdp wggavrpc http://rjrnvhiape.com

Post A Comment

(required)

(required but not displayed)



(No HTML, Textile only please. Live comment preview below.)

this is not Spam.

preview

:

Nov 19, 03:51 am


Previous Article:
« News Time

Next Article:
Tom wants a refund?!? »

NCO Reader Comments


cnabas (New Tillamook and Clatsop County Blog)
pasgettaorri (The Vote 2006!)
pasgettaorri (The Vote 2006!)
connie (Focus on 49: BOCC work session grapples with difficult legislature)
Delores (Focus on 49: BOCC work session grapples with difficult legislature)
Kristen Molina (North Coast AA Round Up Seaside April 4th 5th 6th 2008)
Madonna Carr (What does the Federal Government Do with our Taxes?)
Wallace Kennedy (More D.A. Talk)
Ollie Woodward (Fort George Brewery Coming Alive)
Augustine Sweet (CCFOG - First report on Lee recall petition signatures)
Glynn Oconnor (A gun show ... without guns ?)
Lorne Riley (notes from Clean Slate PAC meeting 2/13/07)
Clare Ruiz (Durban Group Discusses Carbon Trading and LNG in Astoria)
Stewart Hernandez (Random News For Friday)
Johnna Acosta (Measure 50....Healthy Kids...Cigarette Taxes)
Nathan Schroeder (Housing Credit Crunch: Who to Blame?)
Tammi Chase (Hands of Peace held for MLK Jr Day)
Maxine Richardson (News Sidebar)
Maryann Le (Websites...How to do links...Textpattern, HTML, Subscribe)
Daniel Estrada (Warrenton City Manager Resigns)

Recent Articles

View All Articles...

Feeds



Home | Archives | Contribute | Back to Top
Take What You Want 2008 NorthCoastOregon.com unless otherwise indicated.
Please email us with any questions or comments.
Site created by Upspring Design.