AUDIO: Update on Kalamazoo County court operations

KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM)  —  Kalamazoo County’s circuit and trial courts are shut down because they are making their move to the new county courthouse, but there will be some limited activity still at the Michigan Avenue courthouse this week. All county court operations at Crosstown Parkway shut down late last week.

Traffic tickets can be paid at the Michigan Avenue courthouse through this week.

Circuit court payments, as well as civil and personal protection order filings and inquiries should be made at the Gull Road courthouse through Friday.

District courts will continue to operate this week at the old downtown location. There will be limited internal access only to the court clerk’s operations.

If all goes as planned, operations and hearings will resume at the new Judge Charles A. Pratt Justice Center on Kalamazoo Avenue next Monday December 8th.

The project is on budget, but a few months later than expected due to worker shortages and supply chain issues.

County Administrator Kevin Catlin says the time has finally arrived.

One of the more work intensive parts of the move the intricate job being done by their I.T. department, transferring the court’s computer systems.

If all that is confusing, that’s one of the issues the new Justice Center is supposed to help resolve.

Instead of three courthouses, there will be just two, with the district and circuit courts at the new facility, and the family division and Friend of the Court on Gull Road.

Work on landscaping will have to wait until spring so the final look of the new facility will be a few months off.

The old courthouse on Michigan Avenue has been sold to a local firm for renovations and private development.

Modifications still have to be made at the Gull Road courthouse, to make room for an additional judge for Kalamazoo County. That new position was approved by the state Legislature after plans for the new downtown courthouse were set.

The county board is scheduled to approve a special measure Tuesday to make sure that the staff in the courts and prosecutor’s office continue to be paid while the courts are shut down during the move.