Starkville Municipal Court Report at Recent Board Meeting

On Tuesday night, Judge Eshee (leader of the Municipal Court in Starkville, MS) presented the Board of Alderman with annual munipal court report. Below are notable statistics, information, and Judge Eshee's recommendations to the Board for the upcoming year.

Notable Statistics from 2004 to 2005

• The number of DUI's increased from 206 to 292 (Judge Eshee contributes the increase largely due to an increase in action shown by the state's ABC officers)
• The number of misdemeanors increased by 50% from 1,028 in 2004 to 1,572 in 2005
• The number of felonies, on the other hand, decreased by 12 from 248 to 236.
• The number of new court cases increased dramatically from 8,072 in '04 to the record breaking 11,531 recorded last year.
• The court expects the number of court cases to remain in the 11,000 or 12,000 range (the increase was not a spike they say)
• The court contributes part of the increase in misdemeanors and the decrease in felonies to the increased presence and work of the Starkville Police Department led by Chief Lindley and the Oktibbeha County Sherriff's Department led by Dolph Bryant.

Conditions of the Court (located in City Hall, not the county court house)

• The court room and halls of the mucipal court are routinely overcrowded.
• There is no prosecuter's office at the court house.
• There is no witness room at the court house to hold witnesses in.
• There is no defense room at the court house so there is no privacy for defense counsel to discuss issues with their clients on sight.
• The Municipal Court Judge and the Court Administrator must share an office which makes for cramped working conditions.

News

• Municipal Prosecuter Roy Carpenter will be returning from Iraq (or has) and will resume his role as city prosecuter.
• Current City Attorney Rodney Favor was commended on his performance for filling in as prosecuter in Capenter's absence.

Court Recommendations to the Board (these were taken under advisement by the Board)

1. Add one additional court term per week, preferably Wednesday afternoon at 1:00 (the court already meets on Monday and Thursday) due to the increased case load and a larger group of people having to attend court.
2. Employ a delinquent fines collection clerk to enable the court to better collect fines that have not been paid. The clerk would issue a contempt warrant for the person who has not paid their fine with the judge who could then fine the person up to $1,000 and/or 6 months in jail for refusal to pay their fine.

Side Note:

The Sierra Club, led by Juliet Tang (i believe thats correct), returned to speak to the Board during Citizen Comments, about the spraying of pesticides in Starkville, MS, and encouraged members of the Board to attend there next meeting.

The Board finally approved interest bearing accounts for city funds, not including Starkville Electric Department funds, in a 5 to 2 vote choosing to use Bank First for the next 2 years. Davis and Self both opposed citing lack of clarity in how the use of the interest would be appropriated and measured.