No Room in Court: Some Family Court Cases Forced to Be Heard in Tight Surroundings

By Aimee Juarez, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.

Apr. 2–ROCK HILL — It’s Tuesday morning and York County family court Judge Henry Woods is on the bench.

But he’s not in a courtroom. He’s in a conference room.

He’s seated behind four tables arranged to resemble a bench, waiting to begin a separation hearing that’s scheduled to start in 30 minutes.

At the family court building next door, a crowd of people there for child support hearings or juvenile cases has spilled outside the lobby and into the courtyard.

While York County family court has enough judges to clear cases within their 44-week trial period, it currently doesn’t have enough room to have the three hear cases in the same building.

The building was originally built to accommodate two judges. When the S.C. Court Administration allowed the county last year to have a third, visiting judge listen to cases, they started using the conference room as a makeshift courtroom.

But for security reasons, the judge working at the conference room can’t hear juvenile or child support cases. Security checks are limited to a wand used to scan those entering the waiting area. Officials also worry an arrestee may make a break for it while he’s walked over to the conference room, which is in a county building adjacent to the family court.

With a growing county population, “family court is booming,” Woods said. “We’re growing so fast our needs have outstripped our resources right now.”

Last year, the state’s court administration allowed for a third judge to stop through during trial weeks to help Woods and Judge Robert Guess push through their caseloads.

In January, court officials told county managers the visiting judge would be helping more often this year, Assistant County Manager David Larson said.

In March, the County Council approved use of $500,000 from this year’s budget reserves for the mobile courtroom. They also want to expand the lobby to take care of the overflow. County officials said they are still analyzing their plans and preparing bids. They don’t expect to break ground on the project until later this year.

“This is an intermediate step toward our long term needs,” Larson said. “It’s a half-a-million dollar Band-Aid.”

Denise Wright, 36, said she has had to stop by family court for years over child support payments for her 8-year-old twins.

Sitting on the floor of the crowded lobby Tuesday, Wright said the proposed expansion might curb the wait time.

“When they start” hearing cases, she said, “they’re pretty fast.”

Nine years ago, according to York County Clerk of Courts David Hamilton, only one courtroom was used to capacity at the family court building, which is along Heckle Boulevard. The second was used half of the trial calendar year. Today, the two are used to capacity. And, aside from the conference room, the third judge might also have to hear cases at the Moss Justice Center in York or at York’s downtown courthouse if scheduling conflicts arise.

“Is it suitable? No,” Woods said. “But we make it work.”

Right now, the county has an estimated 185,000 residents, according to Larson. That number is expected to swell to 300,000 residents by 2020.

Court and county officials say while the mobile unit will help for now, they know family court will have to continue to expand as the county continues to grow.

“Family court’s a unique beast,” Hamilton said. “A child born today could be a child support case for 18 years. When you get a case like that, it can stay with you for some time.”

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