Council divided on fate of satellite courthouses

CROWN POINT | Members of the Lake County Council are split on whether county government should close satellite courthouses in Gary, Hammond and East Chicago.

Councilman Ted Bilski, D-Hobart, said Thursday he supports publicly funding a feasibility study to determine whether consolidating outlying county courts and satellite government offices and moving them to centrally located Crown Point would save tax dollars. The 2007 Good Government Initiative study, paid for by the county's largest corporate taxpayers, recommended the cost-saving measure.

Lake County commissioners and judges began earlier this fall discussing the possibility of consolidating the courthouse operations but have failed to reach a consensus out of fear closure would have a negative economic impact on the three already struggling cities.

According to Councilwoman Elsie Franklin, D-Gary, there is no need for a study because there is no need to close county offices now conveniently located in the downtown areas of Lake County's three largest cities.

"The bulk of the taxpayers live there, not Crown Point, and that is a problem as long as there is no countywide public transportation system," Franklin said.

Councilwoman Christine Cid, D-East Chicago, who works in the clerk's office in the East Chicago satellite courthouse, is opposed to the study.

"Look at the consolidation of the Hammond city Health Department into the county Health Department," Cid said. "What was saved there, a few dollars?"

However, Councilman Jerome Prince, D-Gary, supports funding a feasibility study since deep budget cuts planned in 2010 and 2011 may force their hand since "consolidation seems inevitable."

Councilman Ernie Dillon, D-Hammond, agrees.

"I support the feasibility study, but I'm not prepared to support moving the county courthouse out of Hammond," Dillon said.

According to Council Attorney Ray Szarmach, county courts in Indianapolis and South Bend consolidated into their central downtowns years ago and other counties have been too small to afford satellite courthouses.

Bilski said he will ask council members to vote for the feasibility study at Tuesday's council meeting.