CROWN POINT | Two mayors and the Indiana attorney general will square off Friday in a dispute about keeping a Gary courtroom in the place where thousands of child-support disputes are resolved annually.
Attorneys for the cities of Gary and East Chicago, and the NAACP are suing Lake Juvenile Court Judge Mary Beth Bonaventura to keep her from consolidating her child support staff in Crown Point and close a courtroom she has operated in the Justice Rucker Courthouse at 4th and Broadway in Gary.
The plaintiffs argue moving the court out of Gary would be a hardship for the county's minority population, which lives in the county's northern half.
The Indiana attorney general's office will defend Bonaventura, who said the consolidation will make her court more efficient.
Lake Circuit Court Judge George Paras in Crown Point will hear arguments from both sides about whether to issue a restraining order to block the move.
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