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| Wednesday, July 19, 2006 | (No comments posted.)
Times Staff Report
HAMMOND -- City Judge Jeffrey Harkin has put his court's unwritten rules into writing, partly because several grants that fund overtime pay for police have doubled the court call.
Most of the increase in the number of court cases is traffic-related, he said.
Harkin said the overtime pay allows officers to work more hours on routine traffic stops, such as seat belt violations.
"An average court call (is) 350 to 400 cases," he said. "We have several days our court calls have doubled."
Criminal and traffic cases are heard Tuesday afternoons and Monday, Thursday and Friday mornings.
Harkin said the court had to make some adjustments to handle the additional numbers.
"We became concerned we were violating the code," he said.
The courtroom's capacity is 244 people.
People waiting for hearings are being asked to wait in the hallways or the council chambers. Some are advised to wait outside.
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