LCBA members speak out about court system in survey

The Lake County Bar Association has released the unofficial survey results from its April 13 Bench and Bar Conference. The results, available as a PDF file, are available on the LCBA’s Web site, www.lakecountybar.com or http://www.lakecountybar.com/Survey_Results1_unofficial.pdf.

The survey asked 124 respondents if city and town courts should be abolished and replaced with a lesser number of full-time Superior Courts to perform the same functions (no: 91 votes; yes: 35 votes); whether any Superior or Circuit courts should relocate to other courthouses or other locations; if additional specialized courts should be developed; issues concerning probate commissioners; the hiring and firing of magistrates/referees; the issue of patronage in hiring and firing court personnel (91 respondents said it is an issue, 26 said it is not); the chief judge’s responsibilities; the public defenders’ office; and the idea of adding an information desk/resource center in all of the courthouses (yes: 86 votes; no: 28 votes).