If East Lansing and Ingham County can come together and offer a better service at a lower price, they owe it to their residents to do so.
The proposed merger between East Lansing's 54-B District Court and Ingham County's 55th District Court might be an example of this. But before these two governing bodies forge ahead with this project, they should consider an intermediate step, such as sharing the two courts' workloads.
Calvin Lynch, chairman of the Ingham County Board of Commissioners, wrote a letter to East Lansing's Mayor Mark Meadows asking if he was interested in merging the two courts. Now the possibility is being investigated, and it should be in order to prevent problems from arising because of the merger.
State Court Administrator Jim Hughes said the merger could take up to a year.
"Anytime that we can operate more efficiently we owe it to taxpayers to look at it," East Lansing City Manager Ted Staton said. Combining the two courts would reduce the amount of taxes paid by residents in the two areas represented by the court.
Additionally, combining the courts would lessen the workload for the 55th District Court, which Ingham County Deputy Controller John Neilsen says is a growing burden.
Geographical convenience is another advantage, as Neilsen pointed out. If the combined court were to be in East Lansing, it would be easier for Meridian Township residents to get there.
But if the merger goes through as planned, it could have the opposite effect. Having a single courthouse handle cases from East Lansing, Williamston, Delphi Township, Mason, Meridian Township, Stockbridge and Webberville might cause an out-the-door line at whichever building houses the court.
Instead, maybe government officials from Ingham County and East Lansing should consider an agreement in which courts can share workloads.
If one court is noticeably busier than the other, cases should be sent over to the other one to alleviate the stress.
The work at 54-B District Court hasn't increased recently, Neilsen said. But Staton said the caseload is more complicated.
That's not hard to imagine. Being a college town, East Lansing probably has to deal with more zoning issues and housing complaints than those communities served by the 55th District Court. It's also probably the reason why East Lansing is one of only two cities in Ingham County with its own district court. Lansing is the other city.
So while the merger should definitely be considered, we encourage the governments of Ingham County and East Lansing to spend time considering the merger, and to take intermediate steps to solve the problems created by large workloads.
