Sylvan Township supports Chelsea with courthouse issue

Sylvan Township has put its support behind the city of Chelsea when it comes to keeping county court services in the community.

At their Oct. 4 board meeting, the Sylvan Township Board unanimously supported signing a letter stating as much.

The letter, regarding the 14A-3 District Court/122 S. Main Street in Chelsea, is dated Sept. 30, 2022, and is addressed to Greg Dill, the Washtenaw County Administrator, the honorable Judge Carol Kuhnke of the Washtenaw County Trial Court and Sue Shink, the chair of the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners.

The letter concludes with:

“On behalf of community members in Chelsea and other Western Washtenaw residents, we feel that it is vital to maintain court services in our community. We appreciate the collaborative process between the Court, the County and the City of Chelsea in finding a solution and/or possibly a new location for court services in Chelsea. However, we are concerned that it has been two plus years of discussions and we are still without written assurance that court services will remain in Chelsea. We also feel that the issue of County-owned property and services should be addressed comprehensively. What kind of impact would an expansion of the Saline court have on services offered in Chelsea? Can the Court define what services and type of trials they intend to maintain in Chelsea?

The undersigned communities are asking for written assurance that court services will remain in Chelsea.”

The communities included in the letter are Chelsea, Sylvan as well as Dexter Township, City of Dexter, Lyndon Township, Lima Township, Sharon Township and Webster Township.

Here is the entire letter:

“In January 2021 the City of Chelsea, via direction by City Council, sent a letter to county officials urging Washtenaw County to maintain a functioning courtroom and court services in Chelsea to ensure our constituents have meaningful access to the legal system.

Since that time there have been several additional discussions between the City of Chelsea and other Western Washtenaw municipalities along with Washtenaw County Administration, Washtenaw County Court System, and several Commissioners about the desire of Western Washtenaw residents to retain court services in the Chelsea location.

At the February 7, 2022 Chelsea City Council meeting, the Washtenaw County Administrator and the Director of Strategic Planning gave a presentation to Council regarding the current status of the Chelsea Courthouse and the County’s strategic planning process regarding County owned buildings. We were told that the County and the Courts would continue to work with the City to ensure that we would not lose court services in the event of a Saline court expansion project.

In March 2022, the Washtenaw Board of Commissioners tabled a vote regarding the Saline court expansion to further explore the Chelsea court concerns and on April 28, 2022 several County Commissioners, local officials and representatives from the Court and the county administration met and toured the Chelsea Courthouse.

After the tour, the understanding was that the County would draft a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), between the City of Chelsea and Washtenaw County, detailing the assurance that court services will not be removed from the City of Chelsea. On September 1, the County explained that the Court was not willing to be a party to the MOU.

On September 19, 2022, at the Chelsea City Council meeting, Judge Kuhnke stated that the State Court Administrative Office discouraged the Court from signing the MOU because it was not specific enough, did not have an end date, didn’t address the safety concerns with the Chelsea building, nor did it address the Saline expansion. Additionally, she stated that the Court couldn’t make an indefinite promise and that the Court views the Chelsea and Saline court issues as separate issues that should not be linked together.

She also communicated that, “We (the Court) have no intention of ceasing to service Chelsea in whatever building the County provides to us. We are at the mercy of the County. Our statutory obligation is to operate a court in Chelsea and that is what expect and plan to continue to do.”

“On behalf of community members in Chelsea and other Western Washtenaw residents, we feel that it is vital to maintain court services in our community. We appreciate the collaborative process between the Court, the County and the City of Chelsea in finding a solution and/or possibly a new location for court services in Chelsea. However, we are concerned that it has been two plus years of discussions and we are still without written assurance that court services will remain in Chelsea. We also feel that the issue of County-owned property and services should be addressed comprehensively. What kind of impact would an expansion of the Saline court have on services offered in Chelsea? Can the Court define what services and type of trials they intend to maintain in Chelsea?

The undersigned communities are asking for written assurance that court services will remain in Chelsea.”

Earlier this year, in February, 2022, Sun Times News reporter Doug Marrin did an article on this situation and in it he gave some perspective from one county commissioner, Jason Maciejewski.

In that article, it states: “One important thing to remember is that the court administration is a separate governmental body than the regular Washtenaw County administration,” said Maciejewski. “The court administration has jurisdiction over where they hear cases. They decide where the courthouse will be. But the county administration has to approve the funding for that.”

The article states: The courts decide where they want to hold court, but the county commissioners determine if it gets funded.

Maciejewski also said in that article, “I believe there is absolutely a need to have a courthouse in the Chelsea community, not only for the city but also the surrounding townships. I firmly believe that level of service is needed and justified in this part of the county.”

To read that entire news story, go to the following link:

https://thesuntimesnews.com/g/chelsea-mi/n/64280/future-14a-3-district-…