ANOTHER JUDGE SOUGHT FOR CRIMINAL CASELOAD RISE IN CRIME, MORE CASES

Flooded with criminal cases, Spokane County judges are sending out an SOS for another black-robed associate.

There hasn't been an addition to Superior Court since 1979, but now court officials say an 11th judge is urgently needed to avoid a criminaljustice breakdown.

"We're at the precipice. We waited as long as we could," said Judge Michael Donohue.

Representatives of the bar and bench pleaded their case to county commissioners last week, seeking an emergency budget appropriation of about $750,000.

That's the estimated cost to build a courtroom, relocate existing offices and pay salaries for the second half of this year. Supporting each judge typically is a court reporter, clerk and bailiff.

Half of the judge's $99,000-a-year salary would be shouldered by county taxpayers, with the rest picked up by the state.

While the Legislature must approve the proposed expansion, it goes nowhere without the blessings of budget-minded county commissioners.

Last year, commissioners supported ported the move in concept but took no formal action due to fears of economic fallout from Valley incorporation.

While that vote failed, commissioners now are saying there's little money left to enlarge the court.

"It's a big-ticket item at a time when things are very bleak here," Commissioner Steve Hasson said.

Even so, Hasson predicted commissioners will approve the court expansion in January if revenue projections stay close to the mark.

Donohue points to state caseload studies indicating the Spokane County court, with 10 judges and five lower-level commissioners, needs two more judges.

The volume of criminal cases being filed in Superior Court has soared - from 1,471 filings in 1989 to a projected 2,900 this year.

Part of that has to do with a rise in crime, more police to fight the trend, and a more aggressive attitude by prosecutors in taking cases to trial.

In the past year alone, the trial rate has jumped 30 percent.

"That just knocks my socks off," Donohue said.

To cope with the trend, judges have shelved hundreds of civil cases, ranging from divorces to personalinjury lawsuits.

A court that once ranked among the nation's best for speedily resolving civil disputes is in danger of becoming one of the worst, according to judges and attorneys.

"The civil cases end up being held and are slotted in when there is an available judge or a vacant courtroom," said Spokane attorney Bill Hyslop, former U.S. attorney for Eastern Washington.

While the number of judges has remained the same, Hyslop said the number of lawyers, public defenders and prosecutors has increased significantly since 1979.

"We're the bottleneck," Donohue said. "We just can't continue to throw the civil cases and the domestic horror stories out the door."

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