ARLINGTON — Marysville Municipal Court Judge Lorrie Towers provided the Arlington City Council with an annual update Feb. 23 on the state of the court that both cities share.
Since 2012, Towers has provided the city with updates on her court — which serves Marysville, Lake Stevens and Arlington — as it “works through partnerships, strives for greater efficiency and tackles the challenges of a changing judicial system.”
Towers anticipated that the court’s high volume of traffic would remain steady through 2015. She reported that 2014 saw 10,362 filings of all types, up 2,400 from 2013.
Of the 1,905 filings from Arlington, 24 were DUIs, 91 were parking-related, 794 were criminal, and 996 were other infractions.
Interpreters were utilized at the court 291 times, with Towers noting that Spanish, Russian and Vietnamese interpreters were most often in demand.
“We have an increasingly diverse population,” Towers said.
The court handled 2,300 mitigations, 2,620 arraignments, 1,400 criminal plea hearings and 16,000 assorted other hearings.
“And this is just you and one other judge?” council member Jan Schuette asked.
“Judge Fred Gillings, yes,” Towers said.
The court hosted one jury trial from Arlington, which required 470 citizens to be summonsed.
“A much smaller percentage of those people will respond, and even fewer will actually show up,” Towers said.
To cope with limited space, the court has conducted video hearings five days a week with the Marysville Jail — 4,988 in 2014, 1,188 from Arlington — and four days a week with the Snohomish County Jail — 1,228 in 2014, 205 from Arlington — for an increase of 375 cases from Arlington.
Towers said there have been increases in all categories.
Towers credited a cost savings of $23,178.14 to the placement of 10 Arlington residents on electronic home monitoring systems, instead of jail, in 2014.
Of the court’s 2,353 outstanding warrants, 478 are in Arlington, a fact that floored Schuette.
“I can’t believe it’s that many,” Schuette said.
Arlington Mayor Barbara Tolbert replied, “I suspect some of those are multiple offenders.”
The court’s new recording system allows the public to download specific court dates and times, thus saving on staff time.
This February marks the court’s sixth year of participating in the YMCA’s Mock Trial competitions, which affords students the opportunity to interact with attorneys and judges.
“We enjoy it at least as much as the kids do,” Towers said.
“What percentage of your cases deal with mental health?” council member Chris Raezer asked.
“That’s complicated,” Towers said. “We have cases with mental health diagnoses, but also cases involving drugs and alcohol, where those issues could be involved, so it’s hard to quantify. What I do know is that jail is not the place for housing the mentally ill.”
