Budget battle could shut down Grays Harbor Co. juvenile court
MONTESANO, Wash. -- A battle over money could soon end service to many troubled kids and families in Grays Harbor County.
The tension became very public earlier this year when a mentally troubled man stabbed a judge and shot a deputy inside the courthouse. Judges put in a security system and accused the county of short changing their budget, and not just when it came to security.
Now the judges are threatening to shut down the building and the juvenile court system on November 16 unless the county comes up with $225,000.
County commissioners who believe the judges should have been reducing their own costs all year are upset by the ultimatum.
"To come to us at the end of the year and say we need money because we didn't do anything all year and we are closing the courts is just impossible. We can't do that," said commission chair Terri Willis.
Nicole Perez comes to the courthouse every week to see her nephew, and she's worried he could be moved to another county if the judges follow through on their threat.
"They have court here every week and it would be a big inconvenience to go an hour away to court," Perez said.
Prosecutor Stu Menefee worries some kids may not get services, including probation and anger management.
"That kid's basically left to his own devices and the odds are he's going to get back in trouble," he said.
Officials from the school district say kids should be the main priority in the talks. They worry about kids who may not be in trouble, but who need counseling or supervision, not getting what they need.
"To be honest with you, that's a rough time of year. The holiday times can be challenging for kids if they are in need," said Aberdeen School Superintendent Dr. Thomas Opstad
The two sides have agreed to have a referee come in and take a look at their numbers, but county officials say that won't create any more money.
The judges refused to comment on the story, but they've argued in court that the county commissioners violated the constitutional separation of powers when they cut the court's proposed 2012 budget.
The tension became very public earlier this year when a mentally troubled man stabbed a judge and shot a deputy inside the courthouse. Judges put in a security system and accused the county of short changing their budget, and not just when it came to security.
Now the judges are threatening to shut down the building and the juvenile court system on November 16 unless the county comes up with $225,000.
County commissioners who believe the judges should have been reducing their own costs all year are upset by the ultimatum.
"To come to us at the end of the year and say we need money because we didn't do anything all year and we are closing the courts is just impossible. We can't do that," said commission chair Terri Willis.
Nicole Perez comes to the courthouse every week to see her nephew, and she's worried he could be moved to another county if the judges follow through on their threat.
"They have court here every week and it would be a big inconvenience to go an hour away to court," Perez said.
Prosecutor Stu Menefee worries some kids may not get services, including probation and anger management.
"That kid's basically left to his own devices and the odds are he's going to get back in trouble," he said.
Officials from the school district say kids should be the main priority in the talks. They worry about kids who may not be in trouble, but who need counseling or supervision, not getting what they need.
"To be honest with you, that's a rough time of year. The holiday times can be challenging for kids if they are in need," said Aberdeen School Superintendent Dr. Thomas Opstad
The two sides have agreed to have a referee come in and take a look at their numbers, but county officials say that won't create any more money.
The judges refused to comment on the story, but they've argued in court that the county commissioners violated the constitutional separation of powers when they cut the court's proposed 2012 budget.
Its time for Terri Willis to move on. You should see what else she did recently:
http://thedailyworld.com/sections/news/local/commissioner-hired-granddaughter-summer-jobs-program.html
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The county doesn't have the money but I bet that on the 16th the Deputies will be out in their boat on overtime doing the WA State Department of Fish and Game's job on the Chehalis river.
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It is amazing how they will spend money on needless things but cut the essential to the bone. Â And even more amazing is when they tell us we just don't understand how a budget works.
yeah when the county commioners aka Terry willis funded her pet projects that did nothing for grays harbor county and over spent this year. Terry could have step up and did something. She fired out anger and got ride of one deptment that was making money for graysharbor.
Terri Willis is the problem! I can't wait for her to be voted out!
The children are trash to these overpaid judges who are more than willing to toss em in the street. Â
Another 4 years of of O'nothingbutanothertrillion.... I THINK NOT.
 @alildifferent I guess you prefer the 20 yrs of Reagan, Bush, and Bush that got us here to begin with.
 @alildifferent You mean when Obama put the 2 unfunded wars and Medicaid part D on the books because the Republicans refused to?  Â
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Do you even know how much each of these cost? Â Did they not happen in your mind? Â
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 @Andrew Bush  @alildifferent They happened and recorded as deficit spending, not sure what your talking about sounds a lot like msnbc obama bot speak.
 @CrankyPanky  @alildifferent the U.S. military has largely paid for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through emergency spending measures, in effect keeping wartime costs off the books.
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In addition to masking skyrocketing budget growth at the Department of Defense, this process has allowed the services to treat budget supplementals as a piggy bank for new procurement.
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Now the budget looks ahead ten years and accounts for spending that was left out under the old rules â and for the first time, that includes the full cost of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan
@Andrew Bush OBAMA is a a socialist scum bag.
 @alildifferent  Really?  is that your only response to my question?  Â
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Again I ask. Do you know how much the war in Iraq and the war in Afghanistan cost? Â
"but county officials say that won't create any more money." So you are saying you have counterfeited in the past?