BANGOR – More and more people are looking to the courts to settle disputes with bus-riding bullies and noisy neighbors, adding even more burden to an already taxed court system, officials said this week.

Today, the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee will consider a bill designed to encourage people to solve their harassment cases through police departments instead of judges.

In a bill sponsored by Rep. Janet Mills, D-Farmington, the court would no longer be required to schedule a harassment hearing within 21 days of the complaint being filed, and plaintiffs would have to provide evidence they’ve filed a report with the appropriate law enforcement agency before filing a complaint.

The bill also would allow a judge to order a plaintiff to pay a defendant’s attorney fees and court costs if the complaint were dismissed.

“What’s happening in too many cases is that police officers are not doing what they can to prevent harassment by using tools that are available to them,” said Mills.

Police have the authority to serve someone with a “cease harassment” order, which if violated can lead to charges.

“This has nothing to do with protection from abuse orders,” Mill stressed Monday. “This is strictly harassment orders. It’s neighbors against neighbors and schoolyard or bus fights. There are many of these things that could be worked out without involving the courts.”

Protection from harassment orders filed with courts in Maine increased from 3,813 in Fiscal Year 2001 to 5,296 in Fiscal Year 2003, said Court Administrator Ted Glessner.

“These cases are clogging up the courts when there are simpler and far less costly ways to deal with them,” said Mills.

Bangor police Chief Donald Winslow said his department routinely used a standard harassment form that basically serves as a written warning if one person is harassing another. If the harassment continues the harasser will be charged, Winslow said.

“We basically refer people to the courts when the harassment doesn’t cease and we see it as a serious or ongoing matter,” Winslow said.

Mills said her bill would allow the courts to better handle the most serious harassment cases, while encouraging those involved in less serious disputes to deal with police.