County tries to find way to continue justice court

Business as usual in justice court? Well, not quite.

With the long-awaited decision from the Judicial Standards Commission on justice of the peace Gary Hicks coming down, figuring out how to handle his case load becomes a concern.

The commission turned in a recommendation to the Montana Supreme Court that Hicks be removed from office based on allegations of inappropriate sexual advances toward female defendants. Hicks is currently on suspension pending the final decision of his fate by the Supreme Court. But he is still drawing a salary.

“I think it’s still a real big concern to the commissioners because until a decision is made, we still have to pay his salary,” Lincoln County commissioner Rita Windom said Tuesday. “If he appeals, I don’t know what happens. It’s getting to be expensive.”

Eureka justice of the peace Stormy Langston will take on a lot of the extra work, said Lincoln County personnel department head Bill Bischoff.

“On a temporary basis, like initial appearances which have to be done in 24 to 48 hours, the justice of the peace in Eureka will take care of those,” Bischoff said. “We can do that with videoconferencing. So, that helps instead of making special trips.”

During Wednesday morning county commissioners meeting, plans were made to go through a list of names that could possibly fill in during the interim. Several options appear to exist, even having more than one person share the responsibilities.

Bischoff said that some civil cases could possibly be postponed. In terms of criminal cases, county attorney Bernie Cassidy said defendants have the right to a speedy trial. In black and white, if a defendant pleads not guilty in justice court, the case must go to trial within six months or it could be dismissed.

“Our biggest concern right now is the justice court system isn’t working,” Windom said. “With all the people that have to be in that system on a daily basis, we need some closure.”

Three justice court employees who had gone on administrative leave returned to the job a few weeks ago.

It’s unknown how long the Supreme Court might take to review the case and make a decision. However, it appears that the process could not be finalized until after the holidays. Hicks has 30 days to respond to the commission’s findings. After that, prosecuting attorney Stephen C. Berg would have another 30 days to comment before it goes on to the Supreme Court.

“My guess is you’re probably looking at somewhere around 90 days,” Cassidy said.