The Austin Daily Herald took a close look this week at the Third Judicial District Court in Mower County and what did it see?.

Friday, April 28, 2000

The Austin Daily Herald took a close look this week at the Third Judicial District Court in Mower County and what did it see?

Answer: a burgeoning caseload.

Perhaps more revealing is what the five-part series didn’t see, and that was sitting judges.

Mower County has only one, District Judge Donald E. Rysavy.

A debilitating illness has sadly taken District Judge Michael H. Seibel from the bench for an indefinite medical leave of absence.

Rysavy gamely forges ahead each day dealing with a plethora of criminal, civil and other court matters that come his way each day.

He is ably assisted by other district judges, who are temporarily reassigned to hear court matters in Mower County.

But juggling judges to serve where the need is most acute is an untenable short-term solution.

The Third Judicial District, like other judicial districts in Minnesota, is dealing with a $3.1 million budget shortfall in the state court system.

The district judges are attempting to prioritize cases, but is any individual case any more important than any other to the people involved in that proceeding?

The Minnesota Legislature needs to rectify the budget shortfall immediately.

Also, the Legislature must take action to ensure there are sufficient judicial resources throughout the state.

Long ago, swift justice fell from its position of pride in describing the justice system.

Let not the irreverence continue to decline by a justice system asked to do so much for society and given so little to accomplish that mission.