County to provide Albion civil court services

After seeking for nearly two-and-a-half years to be able to establish its own court, the Town of Albion and Whitman County have entered into an interlocal agreement for Albion to be served by Whitman County District Court. The county commissioners Monday voted unanimously on the agreement with the town that was first brought before the board nearly a year ago in May of 2016.

Albion last had its own court more than two decades ago.

“There was a court out here maybe 20 years ago, maybe longer,” said Starr Cathey, town clerk/treasurer.

Cathey said the town had been working with the state to bring back its court so that the town could enforce its ordinances, but the cost to do so was out of reach.

Albion does not have a police department, and all criminal law enforcement is done by the sheriff.

Garfield Attorney Eric Hanson serves as Albion’s attorney in the civil cases.

“It is extremely expensive to have our own court,” she said. “The minimum is $10,000, plus a $500 monthly maintenance fee.”

The town would have also had to employ a court clerk.

“It would have been very, very expensive,” said Cathey.

The commissioners delayed their decision last May in order to be able to sort out where the proceeds from the court sessions would land. Under the agreement, Albion must pay a $25 filing fee to the county for each case, and the district court will collect all fines that are paid to the Whitman County District Court on any of the cases. All of those funds will be passed onto Albion on a monthly basis, and under terms of the agreement, Albion would remit any funds due to the state.

Marlynn Markley, Whitman County District Court administrator, said the agreement will provide an outlet for citizens charged with violations.

“They need an opportunity to argue their cases,” she said.

Markley also noted that several towns in Whitman County have agreements with the county for district court services, including Pullman, which contracts with the county and has space at its city hall for district court proceedings.

Colton and Uniontown, she noted, have their own courts. Colfax also has its own district court.

“Pretty much every other town contracts with us,” she said. “Pullman files the most, and occasionally we get some from places like Endicott and Rosalia, and a little bit from LaCrosse, mostly for weeds.”

Cathey noted the district court services will help the town to be able to enforce its ordinances, notably noise and animal codes. The town currently does not have cases pending.

“There are no cases right now because we didn’t have a court,” she said. She noted that the town writes a lot of letters to citizens without a court system in place.