Family, Civil and Housing Cases To Be Moved from Meriden Courthouse

The state Judicial Branch announced major changes to operations at the Meriden courthouse today if an agreement with state unions is not reached by August 31, 2011.

• All civil and family cases will be moved from Meriden to the New Haven Judicial District courthouse.
• The Meriden Judicial District clerk's office will be closed. 
• Infractions and small claims matters, which are currently adjudicated at the health department building on Miller Street, will be moved to the Meriden courthouse.
• Meriden housing court will be moved to New Haven GA. 23.
• Meriden GA 7 matters (encompassing Meriden, Cheshire, Wallingford, Hamden and North Haven) will remain in Meriden. 
• The Community Services offices in the Meriden courthouse will also be closed.

Reached by phone, an employee at the civil and family court department said the department had no comment on the changes.

These changes reflect a reshuffling proposed for courthouses throughout the state as the Judicial Branch cuts approximately $86 million from its budget in the next two years – cuts that were approved in a June special legislative session.

Much of these funds will come from staff layoffs, according to Chief Court Administator Judge Barbara M. Quinn, who released a 36 page report to the press on Friday morning, after submitting it to State Senate President Donald E. Williams (D-Brooklyn) and House Speaker Christopher Donovan (D-Meriden). The state Judicial Branch plans to lay off 452 employees and not fill 150 vacancies. Because of reduced staff, operations are being consolidated, Quinn said.

The state plans to shutter four courthouses, a juvenile detention center, many offices and six law libraries, and making cuts or eliminating programs. A full report of cuts issued by the department is attached in PDF.

"More than anything, the impending layoffs will severely compromise our ability to provide essential services to the residents of the State of Connecticut," said Quinn in a statement. "In response, we are prioritizing the work that must be done and, in order to protect public safety and the constitutional rights of both defendants and victims, criminal matters must be our top priority."