CROWN POINT | Lake County Commissioner Roosevelt Allen, D-Gary, said closing the satellite courthouses would be unpopular among north county voters who would lose easy access to county government offices.

"The voters may punish officials who choose to close county buildings in Gary, Hammond and East Chicago," Allen warned Monday.

County officials estimate consolidating courthouses would reduce the county's annual operating costs by $1.9 million, but Allen believes those savings are exaggerated and relocating courts and other offices in Crown Point would make them inaccessible to north county residents without private transportation.

Commissioners Fran DuPey, D-Hammond, and Gerry Scheub, D-Schererville, recently asked seven civil and family court judges now occupying those three courthouses for permission to move their venues to Crown Point. Chief Superior Court Judge John Pera said judges support consolidation in principle but still support a judicial presence in the three cities.

Further, Allen suggests that not only the courts would close, but satellite offices for the clerk, the prosecutor's child support division, the treasurer and sheriff.

"Approximately 700 citizens per day visit the Gary courthouse to conduct their business with county government," he said. "Closing the satellite courthouses would disenfranchise thousands of citizens."

Allen said many voters flocked to the satellite courthouses, including some who came on foot or by city bus last year, to vote in the presidential election and avoid long lines at the government center in Crown Point.

The county has spent $4 million in the last four years upgrading the Gary courthouse with two new elevators, a new roof, new windows and a new magistrate's courtroom.

"The judges in the satellites have spacious courtrooms and don't want to move to Crown Point," Allen said.

"I truly believe the primary function of our county government is to provide not only vital government services, but also make those services accessible to everyone in Lake County."