Bar Harbor District Court to close in June

BAR HARBOR – At the end of June, Bar Harbor District Court will cease to exist, a state official said Tuesday.

The decision to cut the court’s funding and to move all its operations to Ellsworth was included in the Legislature’s final approval last week of the $5.8 billion state budget, according to State Court Administrator Ted Glessner.

The court’s lone clerk will not lose her job as a result of the closure, Glessner said, but instead will have her position moved to Ellsworth District Court.

Glessner said closure of the court, one of the least busy in the state, will save the state $26,000 it pays each year to rent space in Bar Harbor’s municipal building.

Overall, the state will save an estimated $40,000 to $45,000 it annually spends on the court’s operations, he said.

“The smaller courts tend to be less active and proportionally more expensive,” Glessner said.

Each year the state considers whether to close smaller courts to save money, Glessner said.

With approval of the $55 million annual state courts budget, other changes will be made at court facilities in Houlton and in Sagadahoc County, according to the administrator.

Houlton District Court will be moved across Court Street into the Aroostook County Superior Court building, he said. Officials have said the move could save County taxpayers between $85,000 and $100,000 a year.

The Sagadahoc County Superior Court Clerk’s office in Bath will be moved to West Bath and merged with the district court clerk’s office there, but Sagadahoc County Superior Court will continue to function at its existing location in Bath, Glessner said.

According to district court officials, Bar Harbor District Court is in session once a week and handles approximately 500 cases a year. Ellsworth District Court, which meets more frequently, annually handles about 4,000 cases.

Stan Harmon, Bar Harbor’s finance director, said Tuesday that the town has known for some time that the local court might be shut down because of its relative lack of activity.

The town has considered making renovations to its municipal building on Cottage Street, he said, but has put those plans on hold pending the state’s decision.

The town had drafted preliminary plans that called for some employee offices to be moved into the existing Bar Harbor Council chambers on the second floor and for the council chambers to be moved into an adjacent auditorium.

Harmon said that with the state’s decision to close Bar Harbor District Court, the town most likely will try to have all the municipal offices in the building located on the first floor.

The first floor now is shared by municipal employees and Bar Harbor District Court, while some town employees have their offices in the basement.

The council is expected to discuss at its April 19 meeting how it wants to reuse space in the building after the court moves out this summer, Harmon said.

Bar Harbor Police Chief Nate Young recently told the council that, were the court to close, the fact that his officers would have to make more court appearances 20 miles away in Ellsworth would not have an adverse effect on his department.

Most of his officers already live in the Ellsworth area, where rent and home prices are cheaper, and would be able to go to court directly from home when they leave for work, he said.

According to Glessner, the last day Bar Harbor District Court will be open is Thursday, June 30. It may take some time after that to move records and equipment to Ellsworth, he said, but all district court operations in Hancock County will be in Ellsworth as of July 1.