City Council approves building a stand-alone Municipal Court building

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The City Council on Tuesday approved construction of a Municipal Court building east of city hall. The $2.7 million facility will take 12-15 months to build. [City of Maricopa]

Maricopa City Council on Tuesday unanimously approvedĀ  building a stand-alone Municipal Court building, taking the city’s cases out of the Pinal County courts building.

Since its incorporation in 2003, Maricopa has handled its Municipal Court proceedings in aĀ  shared facility within Pinal Justice Court.

The project will be built in two phases. The first will create an interim facility that will operate in City Council chambers while a permanent facility is built directly east of city hall and north of the current police building.

ā€œWe are growing up,” Assistant City Manager Jennifer Brown said. “Weā€™re maturing as a city and that means we take over new things and we have new processes evolving as a community.ā€

Brown said the target date for the interim court is early 2023.

She said the city will establish the Municipal Court program and build the courthouse without incurring debt or raising taxes. The permanent facility will take 12-15 months to build after plans are approved.

Municipal Court is a stand-alone trial court with limited jurisdiction that works within the Arizona court system. It adjudicates misdemeanors, petty offenses and civil violations, including traffic and city-ordinance violations. It is established as a separate, independent branch of city government with a municipal judge appointed by the City Council, Brown said.

Brown said Maricopa is the only city in Pinal County that does not have a stand-alone Municipal Court. She added having the court will bring improved efficiency and effectiveness to the local court system.

ā€œIt also gives us the ability to do what we see as best for our residents and the goals of our city,ā€ Brown said.

The cost of creating the interim court is about $15,000 to retrofit the city hall side entrance to create a separate court entrance, lobby, client/attorney meeting rooms and security at the entrance.

The permanent court will have a construction budget of approximately $2.7 million, funds which Brown said already are budgeted. Those costs will be repaid to the city through development impact fees.

ā€œI want to make it very clear that will be paid by new development, not existing taxpayers,ā€ City Manager Rick Horst said. ā€œIt will be 100 percent based on new development coming. With those growth needs, they should be paid by the people causing the growth and not the people who are already here.ā€

Horst estimated the cost at $200-$300 per new household in development fees. He added that his staff has pegged construction costs at $450 per square foot, making the permanent facility about 6,000 square feet.

Although the court building initially will be relatively small, it will be designed with expansion in mind, as other city facilities have been. There will be plumbing, electrical and other utility stub-outs and other elements that make expansion easier when it becomes necessary.

Vice Mayor Vincent Manfredi said the new court facility is a look ahead to the needs of the city, not an indictment of anything currently.

ā€œI want to make it clear what weā€™re doing here is looking at the future,ā€ Manfredi said. ā€œItā€™s not any negative on whatā€™s happening today in our current court situation. Our current judge (Lyle Riggs) is a great judge, a great man, a great person. Weā€™re looking at the future of the city of Maricopa and the growth we are seeing.ā€

Vincent Manfredi is co-owner of InMaricopa.