REDRAWN COURT CIRCUITS SHOW PRUDENT JUDGMENT

In some ways, this minor piece of legislation broke the mold of what many perceive as modern lawmaking: here were state employees asking for more work to do, and here was a bill that will cost taxpayers nothing. An act of the legislature will remove Perry County from the 24th Judicial Circuit and deposit it in the 32nd Circuit, which currently includes Cape Girardeau and Bollinger counties. It seems an equitable distribution of workload and a common-sense redrawing of circuit boundaries.

This matter had been recommended as law by the circuit judges who will pick up the slack of an overburdened docket in Perry County. These judges A.J. Seier and Stephen Limbaugh Jr. of Cape Girardeau County have been handling Perry County cases on special assignment from the Supreme Court since November. They recognized that dockets in their 32nd Circuit were less congested than those in the 24th. Adding a new judge in the 24th Circuit would have mitigated the problem, but it also would have been a costly proposition for taxpayers.

The 24th Circuit's crowded docket came about as a matter of judicial evolution and did not have the elements of a temporary problem. That circuit also includes Madison, St. Francois, Ste. Genevieve and Washington counties; into these boundaries have come two correctional facilities in recent years, at Farmington and Potosi. With these facilities came the legal entanglements spawned by the penal system and the court caseloads have grown. Some relief was in order.

In the 32nd Circuit, the legislature found an efficient court operation with an enviable record for disposing of cases. The judges were willing to add to their workload and the legislature was right to oblige.

At all times, not just these days of tight revenues, state government should be looking to get the most from taxpayer dollars. By listening to the persons most closely involved in this system, the legislature has realized a means of accelerating justice while adding a level of economic efficiency. We urge Gov. John Ashcroft to sign this measure and bring Perry County into the 32nd Circuit.