Superior Court Judge Ralph Van Pelt stands on the courthouse steps in Catoosa County in 2004.RINGGOLD, Ga. – Catoosa County’s law enforcement leaders want to create a new court next year.
During a work session Tuesday morning, Sheriff Gary Sisk, District Attorney Herbert “Buzz” Franklin, Public Defender David Dunn and Superior Court Judge Ralph Van Pelt Jr. told the Catoosa County Commission they need a state court to speed up misdemeanor cases from arrest to judgment.
If created, a Catoosa County State Court would handle misdemeanor crimes — those punishable by less than one year in jail — and some civil cases currently heard in Superior Court. It would also take traffic cases from Probate Court. Seventy counties in Georgia have state courts, including Chattooga and Walker.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Georgia Council of State Court Judges Executive Director Bob Bray gave the Catoosa County Commission a study he has conducted about the impact of a state court. Based on superior court’s and probate court’s workloads the past five years, Bray said a state court would handle about 4,500 cases each year.
Bray’s study shows that, if a state court is created and no current court employees increase their workloads, the county would hire seven employees. That would cost taxpayers about $530,000 a year.