Growth and the courthouse

RALEIGH -- Much has been said about the Blue Ribbon Committee on the Future of Wake County and the report it presented to Wake County commissioners earlier this week, especially regarding school funding and transportation. One issue that has not received much coverage, however, is the critical stage at which our county court system finds itself.

Come and spend a couple of hours in the Wake County Courthouse any day of the week.

Once you negotiate your way through the downtown traffic and get into the courthouse, you will quickly learn that our system is overwhelmed. There are regularly more than 1,000 cases set in a single courtroom. Cases get continued over and over because there is just not enough court time (or court personnel) to address them all. The jail has historically operated at maximum capacity, creating security issues and transport problems for the Sheriff's Department.

The Blue Ribbon Committee notes that, as our population continues to skyrocket, the forecast is for caseloads to get even heavier. Case filings will double in the next 25 years, and the daily jail population will more than triple.

We will have to double the number of judges and almost triple the number of support staff members to deal with these increases.

These issues are addressed in the report. The committee recommends expanded court facilities, including a new criminal courthouse next to the Wake County Public Safety Center; an expanded county jail facility out at the Hammond Road complex; new parking facilities for staff, jurors and the public; and an expansion in the programs for pretrial release and safe alternatives to jail time. Each of these recommendations addresses a critical need and will bring great benefit to the fair and efficient administration of justice in Wake County.

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During those couple of hours that you spend at the courthouse, you will also realize that much time and many resources are spent dealing with issues of mental illness and substance abuse.

The Blue Ribbon report recognizes that larger court facilities and a bigger jail will not solve all our criminal justice problems. The committee calls for investment in a comprehensive, community-based mental health system to deal with the large number of inmates with serious substance abuse and mental illness problems.

Those of us who spend our days trying to create solutions to what often appear to be unsolvable problems in this regard know how badly such a system is needed. Even though specialized drug and mental health courts have had successes and deserve continued funding and expansion, our criminal justice system is not an effective means of dealing with these issues by itself.

Far too many people who want (and can be helped by) treatment slip through the cracks, and increased investment in our local mental health system will pay dividends not only with a more efficient court system, but will reduce the time law enforcement has to spend with these issues, and also lessen the time and cost burden on emergency rooms and other health care facilities.

The Blue Ribbon Committee has earned our thanks and respect for working together to try and find answers to the difficult questions presented as our county continues to grow and change. While questions surrounding funding sources will provoke further debate, the committee's recommendations for our court system should be adopted as an important part of an overall plan to keep our community a world-class place to live.

Almost everyone who lives here in Wake County will spend a couple of hours in the courthouse at some point in their lives, and we need to make sure that our court system is able to provide fair, efficient and effective service to each and every one of those people.

(Ripley Rand is Wake County resident Superior Court judge.)