The 92nd District Court is being asked to install an administrator to serve offices in Newberry and St. Ignace and Judge Beth Gibson plans to fill the position by shifting responsibilities with current staff. The state-requested position will cost Mackinac County about $6,000 a year and become effective January 1, 2006, Judge Gibson told the Mackinac County Board of Commissioners Tuesday, October 25.

The court serves both Mackinac and Luce counties.

Jim Colvault, the regional director of the State Court Administrator’s office, appeared with her.

“Increasingly, the court system has become more complicated,” said Mr. Colvault. “It is helpful to have a person in the court that I can go to.” He now has to contact several people in the two counties to get answers, he said, and he began working with the court to consolidate the administration more than a year ago.

The state, said Judge Gibson, has given the court a list of recommendations that includes integrating the two courts and the reporting system.

“One of the recommendations was to move the District Court from being a two-county court system, as it’s set up now, to a single unit,” Judge Gibson told commissioners.

Therefore, she said, “We need to consolidate responsibilities, making a single person in charge.” The administrator will handle all of the reporting, deal with the financial concerns, and would manage personnel.

Some staff hours now budgeted for Mackinac County would shift to Luce County under her plan.

Commissioners asked Judge Gibson to revise her budget for 2006 and submit it and the administrator plan at an upcoming board meeting. County Clerk Mary Kay Tamlyn advised commissioners to “proceed with caution.” She wondered if Mackinac County would be charged an administration fee from Luce County now.

Currently, the two counties share court expenses and neither county charges an administrative fee for the book work.

Judge Gibson said she plans to move Jeanine Blakely, a Luce County magistrate, into the new position. Ms. Blakely has been working toward becoming a certified administrator, Judge Gibson told commissioners.

“This is somebody who is qualified and has ambitions to move in that direction.”

She is proposing to increase Ms. Blakely’s salary from approximately $27,000 to $30,000. Her salary, health insurance, and mileage cost would be shared between Luce and Mackinac counties, with 59 percent from Mackinac and 41 percent from Luce.

Judge Gibson told commissioners her department’s revenues exceed expenditures and even though the function of the court is not to generate money, the funding is there for the new staffing organization.

“This will make the administration better,” she said. “We will see a savings. It may not be huge, but we will see a savings.”

As of October 25, the court has recorded revenues of $373,000 and expenses of $243,000, leaving a positive balance of more than $130,000.