88-070
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RESOLurICl.'l N). 70-88
A RESOLurICl.'l OPmSING 1HE TRANSFER OF JURY TRIALS
FROVI 1HE RlOOEDALE CUJRI' FACILI'lY 'ID 1HE
HENNEPIN CUJNlY <DVERN.\m.I' CENTER
WHEREAS, it has come to the attention of the City Collllcil of the
City of Shorewood that the executive committee of the bench of the
Hennepin Collllty District Court is considering the transfer of jury trials
from the Ridgedale Court faci I i ty to the Hennepin Collllty Government
Center; and
WHEREAS, the Shorewood City Attorney's office presently assigns
one prosecutor to the Ridgedale Court facility in Minnetonka to prosecute
misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor offenses committed within the City of
Shorewood; and
WHEREAS, it is necessary that said prosecutor appear at the
Ridgedale Court facility in Minnetonka for all arraignments, pre-trial
conferences, hearings ffild court trials involving such criminal
proceedings; and
WHEREAS, a transfer of juri trials to the downtown Hennepin
Collllty Government Center would work an extreme hardship on said
prosecutor, and jeopardize his being physically capable of being also
available to appear at the various appearances scheduled at Ridgedale
during the day; and
WHEREAS, the law enforcement agency for the City of Shorewood is
the South Lake Minnetonka Public Safety Department which is headquartered
in Excelsior, a substantial distance from the downtown area; and
WHEREAS, the proposed transfer of jury trials would work an
increased hardship to the Department to send officers downtown to testify
as opposed to their being allowed to testify at the local court facilities
at Ridgedale; and
WHEREAS, civil ian wi tnesses residing in and arolllld Shorewood
would be less available to testify downtown because of the substantially
greater distances involved, lost time from work, llllfmniliarity with
downtown, and problems wi th parking; and
WHEREAS, the Ridgedale Court facilities were originally
constructed with sufficient courtroom space to accommodate both court and
jury trials, and the proposed transfer of jury trials to the downtown
facility would result in substantial increases to the City of Shorewood in
the cost of prosecutions and the cost of police services.
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rov, 1HEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Ci ty Collllcil of the City of
Shorewood as follows:
1. Tha t the Ci ty CollllC i I 0 f the Ci ty 0 f Shorewood hereby
registers its strong opposition to the transfer of jury trials from the
Ridgedale Court facility to the Hennepin Collllty Government Center.
2. That a copy of this Resolution be sent to each of the
Hennepin Collllty Commissioners, to Senator Gen Olson and Representative
John Burger, and to the Chief Judge of the District Court.
AOOPrED BY 1HE CI'lY axJNCIL of the Ci ty of Shorewood this 27th day of
June , 1988.
Robert Rascop, Mayor
A'ITEST:
Sandra L. Kennelly, City Clerk