PARK CITY

An Inconvenient Truth

In America’s small towns, courthouses used to be the center of politics and entertainment and—every once in a while, justice. The modern courthouse has become part of the industrial-legal complex; many a growing city has built a towering monolith to “serve the public.”

Courthouses are one place where attendance can be required—skip traffic or criminal court and see what happens! Sometimes skipping divorce or small claims court can have very negative consequences, including judgments and collections (even garnishment) but for the most part you won’t get arrested for ignoring those summonses.

Courthouses then should be easily accessible to all stakeholders and users—particularly the public. In Jacksonville, the twenty-first century neo-classical seven-story marble edifice takes up two entire city blocks (planners took out a through-street to build it), yet there is NO affordable public parking anywhere nearby, and because the building does not provide parking, handicapped spaces are not mandated.

A trip to court often means lost wages, expensive parking, child care and hours of sitting on miserably uncomfortable benches. Judges should be mindful of this when scheduling; many of my clients groan when I tell them they must return another day for their case to be handled. Traffic court and misdemeanor court are by far the leading reasons for visits to the courthouse. Pinellas County got it right when they built a sprawling almost rural campus with acres of parking for criminal, traffic and juvenile courts. In Jacksonville, it pays to own a parking lot near West Adams Street. Whatever you do, don’t get a parking ticket!