Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, April 26, 2017
Page A-9
CJ Municipal Court has a soft hand
Jason McMillen
IVN Contributing Writer
The Municipal Court
of Cave Junction prides
itself upon its leniency
and compassion as well
as its ability to handle
issues at a local level
with local understanding.
Unfortunately, a great many
people, after receiving their
citations, both fail to pay and
show up to court. Because
of this, and according to
court clerk Becky Patton, the
court is forced to suspend
five to seven drivers’
licenses a month. The court
has a session on the third
Wednesday of every month
but sometimes there isn’t
enough on the docket and the
session can be postponed.
“We have what we call
a ‘Cave Junction Special’;
which is a driving while
suspended, switched plates
and driving uninsured,”
Patton said, with a hint of
dry legal comedy. Patton
further explained that the
Cave Junction Special is the
most common citation they
deal with and comprises the
majority of their six to 10
cases a month. In addition
to traffic violations, the
Municipal Court also deals
with various city code
violations but if the subject
in question is someone living
on the street it oftentimes has
little to no deterring effect.
After failing to show
up or pay the citation, the
court gives the defendant a
generous 30 days to respond
to a letter. If they fail to
respond yet again, Jack
Davis, the 15-year-veteran
judge of Cave Junction,
signs a notice of court action
and sends it to Salem where
their license is suspended.
However, a suspended
license oftentimes has no
effect on the defendant
because, according to Patton,
it’s “not unheard of” for
some drivers to have as many
LEVY
...
Continued from A-1
The levy is for 93 cents per
$1,000, but we’ve also heard the
figure of 80 cents. Can you explain
that?
“We are in the last year of
paying off a jail construction bond at
13 cents per $1,000. In 2018 that goes
away, at which time county taxpayers
will be left with only an additional 80
cents to pay.”
What’s the significance of
having a deputy reside in the
Illinois Valley?
“The resident deputy will be on
call 24/7. His regular on-duty hours
will depend, based on need. Because
the city of Cave Junction pays for its
own special assignment deputy, that
will allow for extra coverage.”
You’re very passionate about
the importance of having adequate
as 15 citations.
“It barely pays for
itself,” Patton said, regarding
the income brought in to the
city by traffic and municipal
citations. Off the top of every
citation the Department
of Revenue takes $60 and
the court gets the rest. If
there’s any money left over,
after paying all expenses,
it goes directly into the
law enforcement fund. In
addition to the cost of a
citation the defendant is also
charged at $15 processing fee
which, according to Patton, is
to help the court break-even.
“One of the reasons
I’m a big supporter of
continuing Municipal Court
in Cave Junction is because
our judge is compassionate
to the environment that he’s
working within so his focus
here is to keep people on the
streets legal,” Patton said.
In one such case of
compassion they had a man
who was cited for driving
without an operator’s
jail beds. What is it about your
experience that contributes to that
passion?
“I have worked in several
areas in law enforcement, as a 911
dispatcher, parole officer, and reserve
deputy volunteering on patrol and
special events. Every aspect of law
enforcement depends on a functional
jail, whether before someone is
convicted or after. Currently, when
the Oregon State Police and sheriff
arrest people, some of them have to
be let go with just a ticket to appear
for trial. Nobody wants someone to
break into their house and just be
given a ticket.”
You are also passionate about
the importance of re-opening the
juvenile jail. Please explain that.
“My hope is that if a child gets
into trouble we can get them the
services they need to not make that
a lifetime thing. It’s important we
remove them from the risk situation
420
license. The man came in
and explained that he was
driving because the person
under his care had to get to
the hospital because of a
medical emergency. Judge
Davis, after hearing his
case, gave the man until the
next court session to get
his driver’s license with the
promise that his fine would
be reduced. After appearing
in court twice more to report
that he had failed the driver’s
test, with proof, Patton
went to the Department of
Motor Vehicles (DMV) to
investigate. Patton was then
informed by a DMV worker
that the man couldn’t read
and arranged for him to take
a verbal test which he passed
with flying colors.
The man is now
driving legally after paying
the minimum fine for the
offense and waves to Patton
whenever he sees her. “If you
go to Grant’s Pass you’re
not going to get that kind of
attention,” Patton concluded.
and require restorative justice of
them. This goes beyond just making
them accountable, to making them
actually part of restoring what was
taken from victim.
“Using Douglas County, with
only three beds, means we don’t have
the ability to take kids out of their
risk environment while we work with
them. And we have to decide the
three most needy cases. With the levy
we can re-open juvenile detention.
Juvenile justice includes multiple
functions: detention, probation,
treatment and shelter. Right now we
only have funds for the three beds
in Douglas County and probation
and treatment. We had to close the
shelter, which served youth in at-risk
situations. The levy may free up
enough other funds so that we can
re-open it.
“But re-opening juvenile
detention is the top priority.”
(Photo by Dan Mancuso, Illinois Valley News)
Mike Clemenson (top left), Cheryl Knopsnyder and
Brian Holsclaw celebrated the pro-marijuana day of
“420” with discounted merchandise and free drinks
and hot dogs to PAPA customers.
“Bud Tender” Shane McCarthy (bottom) weighed a
few buds at Bud Bros also on Thursday, April 20.
Why can’t we take the money
from the county assessor’s office?
“That is on the table. But if we
de-fund the assessor’s office that
means the fire district and school
districts won’t be getting the benefit
of re-assessments, when property
values go up. But if the levy fails,
that’s something we’ll be looking at.”
What about taking the 2
million dollars of reserve funds
from the Public Works budget?
“In January alone we had storm
systems that cost $2.6 million in
damage. And not all of the repairs are
Vote “YES” on the
ANIMAL SHELTER
CONTINUATION LEVY
What Does Your $1 per Month Get You? *
• Adequate response for dangerous, abused and lost animals
• Someplace to report your lost pet; people working to find it
• Pets to adopt that have been vaccinated, wormed and “fixed”
• Caring, professional staff serving public 6 days per week
• More adoptions, less euthanasia (down by 42% since last levy passed)
Not a New Tax...VOTE YES May 16th!
* cost to average County homeowner is less than $1 per month
Vote “YES” on the ANIMAL SHELTER
CONTINUATION LEVY
What Does Your $1 per Month Get You? *
• Adequate response for dangerous, abused and lost animals
• Someplace to report your lost pet; people working to find it
• Pets to adopt that have been vaccinated, wormed and “fixed”
• Caring, professional staff serving public 6 days per week
• More adoptions, less euthanasia (down by 42% since
last levy passed)
Not a New Tax...VOTE YES May 16th!
* cost to average County homeowner is less than $1 per month
eligible for FEMA reimbursement.
In comparison, Klamath County has
almost $100 million in their road
reserve.”
How can we know that the
county commissioners won’t take
some of the money for themselves?
“We are required by law to
spend money as stated in the voter
statement on the ballot. We are taking
the board of county commissioners
out of the Internal Service Fund. That
guarantees the commissioners will
not receive a single penny from the
levy.”