Woodstock Delays Request For I-575 Municipal Court Jurisdiction

Photo credit: Patch file

The Woodstock City Council once again put off deciding whether it would consider a resolution requesting the Cherokee County legislative delegation to allow its Municipal Court to have jurisdiction over the tickets officers write along Interstate 575.

Council members during its meeting on Monday directed City Manager Jeff Moon to schedule a meeting between city leaders and the delegation to discuss the city’s request before the council would consider a resolution.

The request came after Council woman Liz Baxter told her fellow leaders that both State Reps. Michael Caldwell of Woodstock and Scot Turner of Holly Springs were opposed to the resolution. She also said that the city did not need to approve a resolution formalizing its request ahead of its annual Legislative Day, which will be held on Dec. 10 in Canton.

That revelation came as news to both Mayor Donnie Henriques and Moon, who said they’ve always been told local entities must submit resolutions to the delegation “before they even consider discussing” their requests.

“That means we’re getting mixed messages from them,” the mayor added, noting State Senator Brandon Beach has expressed his support of the city’s request.

Currently, Woodstock police officers who write tickets along the interstate under the city’s jurisdiction waste time and taxpayer dollars by traveling to Canton, as those tickets are currently processed through both State and Superior Court, the resolution states.

Processing those tickets through Municipal Court would save time and money, as those officers would not have to drive to Canton for those tickets. Woodstock’s jurisdiction along the interstate stretches from the Cobb County line to its northernmost city limits near the Little River bridge. The Cherokee County legislative delegation through House Bill 560 allowed the city to annex that portion of the interstate in 2011.

Baxter added she’d prefer the city set up a meeting with members of the delegation before the Dec. 10 Legislative Day to hash out any remaining issues.

Council member Chris Casdia, who is in support of the resolution, asked Baxter what would be the harm in voting on the resolution. Baxter reiterated she didn’t think the city should vote on a resolution if it’s not guaranteed they will get what they want from the legislature.

“I just want us to all sit down at the same table...and all get the same story at the same time, and I don’t think that’s unreasonable to ask for,” she added.

Casdia continued to question the delay, adding the city approved the same resolution last year. He again asked Baxter why can’t the city vote on the resolution and deliver its intentions to the delegation.

Baxter added it wouldn’t be helpful for the city to approve the resolution, if both Caldwell and Turner are against the measure. The mayor asked Baxter if the two legislators explained why they were opposed, but Baxter didn’t disclose it.

The council woman said she can only inform the mayor and council that they were both opposed to the resolution, but as far as giving their reasons, “that would not be a fair thing for me to” disclose.

That still stumped Casdia, who said the city should still go forward with presenting the resolution. However, both Baxter and council member Warren Johnson said they were not ready to throw their support behind the measure.

“We voted on this last year,” Casdia said to Baxter. “You were in support of it last year. What’s changed between then and now?”

Baxter stated the “circumstances” changed from last year to this year, and if the city repeated the same steps, they would get the same results.

By comparison, municipal courts in the cities of Canton and Holly Springs currently process tickets written along the interstate in their jurisdictions.

While Ball Ground Municipal Court has jurisdiction to process tickets written on its stretch of the interstate, City Manager Eric Wilmarth said the city is waiting for Georgia Department of Transportation to add I-575 to its list of locations its authorized to operate radar before it starts patrolling the interstate.

Woodstock has not requested GDOT to add its stretch of I-575 as approved locations to run radar.

Both Caldwell and Turner said Woodstock already has the ability to patrol and write tickets along the interstate.

“It is important to note that at the time this full jurisdiction was given to the city, the city promised to never ask for the revenue associated with the tickets that they write on I-575,” Turner said. “To date, the city has not made their case as to why that should change and they should begin receiving revenue from the citizens of Cherokee County for tickets they write on I-575.”

Caldwell added the original purpose of allowing the city to annex that portion of the interstate “was in case of the need to respond immediately to a public safety concern.”

Woodstock has the ability to fulfill that purpose, but ”there is no way to grant municipal jurisdiction without also financially incentivizing” Woodstock to patrol its stretch of the interstate already patrolled by the Georgia State Patrol.

“I trust Mayor Henriques, our council and Chief Moss to the utmost extreme — and they have earned that trust,” he said. “But I cannot guess who will take office in the future. Granting municipal jurisdiction — revenue collection — grants it to all future administrations as well, and that is a risk not worth the benefit of adding a third department to patrol a few mile stretch of road.”