NY Mills district court closed

By Lisa Kaczke | The Daily Journal

Published 10:19 a.m., July 8, 2009

Otter Tail County residents will no longer be able to use court services located in New York Mills after Seventh District judges recently unanimously voted to close the office.

The New York Mills office was a satellite of the Fergus Falls court office that allowed court business to be conducted closer to home for residents living in the eastern part of the county.

A lack of people using the office has led the judges to close the office, Judge Wally Senyk told county commissioners Tuesday. However, the judges aren’t viewing it as a permanent closure and are willing to consider reopening the office at a future date if there is a need, he added. Judge Mark Hansen asked the county board that the courtroom and office remain intact for that reason.

Court staff from Fergus Falls work in the satellite office, but during these difficult economic times, they could no longer justify keeping the office open, Senyk told the county commissioners Tuesday. He noted that the Fergus Falls court office is also planning to lose two employees, the first in several months and a second in 18 months.

Court staff has attempted to save by offering services to the public one day every other week instead of one day every week, Senyk said. But they found that they still couldn’t fill a morning schedule with cases, he explained.

The New York Mills office is the last satellite office open in the Seventh District, Senyk said.

Both Commissioner John Lindquist and Commissioner Lee Rogness wondered if they could require that crimes and tickets that occur in the area surrounding New York Mills are taken care of by the court office there if it was reopened.

Judge Mark Hansen responded that maybe when people realize that the office is closed, they will want it reopened.

Senyk said they welcomed the police departments that cover New York Mills, Perham and Parkers Prairie to use the New York Mills office, but found they would instead use the court’s office in Fergus Falls. An explanation, he explained, could be that law enforcement is using the Fergus Falls office instead at the request of the person needing court services.

Senyk also noted that 90 percent of the cases that had scheduled hearings were resolved before the hearing could take place, which is typical of most court systems.

Hansen also noted that the court system may undergo a redistricting and having a New York Mills office would be advantageous for nearby Wadena.

Commissioners also wondered about the number of cases in Otter Tail County, as well as in Wadena.

The number of cases in Wadena is steady, Hansen said. Senyk added that Becker and Otter Tail county’s numbers fluctuate while Todd County’s numbers have increased.

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