Original Article Justices of Peace criticize move of courts to Chandler Edythe Jensen The Arizona Republic Oct. 26, 2005 02:20 PM Two Tempe justice courts and one from south Mesa/Gilbert will move to downtown Chandler next year as part of a plan to double the capacity of a regional court center. The move is a coup for Chandler and its downtown redevelopment efforts, bringing hundreds of additional people each day into the city center. But Tempe and south Mesa/Gilbert justices of the peace say it's a bad idea that inconveniences their residents and will lead to the demise of "the peoples' courts." "One of the easiest ways to make justice courts irrelevant is removing them from the communities they serve," said east Tempe Justice of the Peace John Ore. "Tempe on the county level has been disenfranchised." Ore said many of his litigants have ties to Arizona State University and some are students who get to court on bicycles. "It's a long ride to Chandler, and public transportation is minimal at best," he said. "This will be good for the lawyers; they'll be able to get more defaults because people won't be able to get to court." Ore said the expansion was poorly handled and Tempe judges didn't get the news until after the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors voted approval earlier this month. A similar center opened last month in northeast Phoenix, and others are planned in the northwest Valley, southwest Valley, central Phoenix and Mesa, said county courts spokeswoman J.W. Brown. As part of the consolidation, the courts will change their titles and will no longer contain the name of a city. Scottsdale's court has been renamed "McDowell," Peoria's will become "Lake Pleasant" and Glendale's will become "Manistee." Names have not yet been selected for Chandler, south Mesa/Gilbert and Tempe. All new centers will house several justice courts, and some will offer other services and are expected to save $58 million in space rental costs over 14 years, Brown said. "They say we'll be saving money on rent, but has anybody thought about the constituents, how much farther they'll have to drive? This isn't right, just to save a few bucks," said south Mesa/Gilbert Justice of the Peace Sam Goodman, who has been holding court for two years in a building constructed for that purpose by the town. Gilbert Town Councilman Don Skousen, a former Mesa/Gilbert justice, said Gilbert will be able to use the abandoned county court space, but he thinks moving four courts to Chandler is a bad idea. "Justice courts are the people's courts and should be located where the people live," Skousen said. Pat McDermott, Chandler assistant city manager, said Chandler donated 2.5 acres of land for the project in 2003 to keep its own justice court in the city and enhance its downtown redevelopment efforts. Last month, the county asked for more land to double the court capacity to four, and tonight the council will vote on donation of an additional 1.6 acres. Both parcels are near city police and courts buildings northwest of Delaware and Frye roads. Like many other justice courts, Chandler's current court is housed in leased shopping center space at the southwestern corner of Dobson and Warner roads. The increased traffic from court personnel, attorneys and litigants at the four-court facility could be a boon to downtown shops and restaurants, McDermott said. "Does Chandler realize how many people they're going to get? Do they have parking spaces?" Ore asked. "Last year, more people came through our metal detectors than came to the Fiesta Bowl - 77,000," he said. The consolidation is also likely to force more driving time for Tempe police and process servers, he said. Reach the reporter at edythe.jensen@arizonarepublic.com