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Suncoast Pasco News

Officials seek ways to decrease court-case bottlenecks

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BY CARL ORTH

SUNCOAST NEWS ASSISTANT EDITOR

Published: December 10, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - Pasco County officials will search for ways to decrease the backlog of court cases which can leave jails overcrowded.

Commissioner Ann Hildebrand and Sheriff Bob White volunteered to serve on a subcommittee as members of the Pasco County Public Safety Coordinating Council.

Two judges are handling huge felony caseloads, prosecutor Mike Halkitis said at the Dec. 5 meeting of the safety council. One judge already is hearing 60 to 80 cases a day.

In some instances, a pre-trial conference might take place a month and a half after the initial, advisory hearing, Halkitis observed.

In the past, senior judges had assisted from time to time to clear up a backlog of cases, Halkitis recalled. But no money exists in tight budgets these days to hire senior judges.

Still, hiring senior judges might be cost effective, Pasco's budget chief, Mike Nurrenbrock, speculated. Ordinarily the state handles such expenses. Still, Pasco jails are crowded enough that the county recently has been transferring 25 prisoners to the Hernando County jail and paying $55 per day per inmate to house them there.

The safety council heard a presentation from Brian L. Shipwash, clerk of superior court for Davidson County in North Carolina. Shipwash said sometimes it can be cost effective if senior judges help reduce the average length of stay for county jail prisoners.

Even if more judges can be found, more lawyers, prosecutors and public defenders would have to be hired, too, Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Paul Firmani pointed out. With state budget cuts, it might be hard to find the money.

"We're having to do more with less," Firmani said.

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