Colorado U.S. Attorney Troy Eid recently aired concerns that Coloradans outside the metro area don’t have adequate access to federal courts.
Eid thinks there ought to be another federal courthouse elsewhere in Colorado.
Or at the very least, some of the federal judges who work out of the main courthouse in Denver ought to be moved to other areas of the state, such as Durango, Pueblo, Colorado Springs and Grand Junction. That would encourage federal investigators to bring cases originating from those areas, he contends.
“This is a basic issue of fairness,” he said in a recent interview.
But is it? Those parts of the state are not unserved by the federal court system. Magistrate judges are stationed permanently in Grand Junction and Durango. And a magistrate travels from Denver to Colorado Springs to hold court every Wednesday.
While magistrate judges do not have the same level of authority as U.S. district judges, they can issue search warrants, conduct preliminary proceedings in both civil and felony criminal cases, handle all aspects of misdemeanor cases and, with the consent of the parties, hold civil trials.
When necessary, federal judges have been sent to other parts of the state for trials. Last year, they conducted three jury trials in Durango and two in Grand Junction.
Designating where federal court proceedings can be held is a power that belongs to Congress, said Dick Carelli, spokesman for the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts. However, the distribution of judges within approved sites in a district is the judiciary’s call, he said.
Eid’s concerns may be valid. But he ought to focus his energy on encouraging federal investigating agencies to bring more cases from other areas. That includes the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI and the Environmental Protection Agency.
If, for example, scores of drug cases begin popping up in the Four Corners area or on the Western Slope, we trust the judiciary would make the necessary adjustments to ensure the cases are handled.
But first things first. Make the cases, and then let the judges worry about how to make sure they are promptly and justly resolved.
