Woodstock, Legislators Stall Over I-575 Court Jurisdiction

WOODSTOCK, GA -- The 2017 legislative session has come and gone, and the city of Woodstock is still unable to process traffic citations written on its stretch of Interstate 575 in its municipal court.

Cherokee County legislators could not agree on whether the move the city's resolution forward, which would bring the city in line with most -- if not all -- jurisdictions around the state who are able to process citations in their respective municipal courts.

At issue: any traffic citations written by Woodstock police officers on I-575 from the Cobb County line to just north of the Little River bridge have to be adjudicated through Cherokee County State Court.

For some perspective, the cities of Holly Springs, Canton and Ball Ground do not have this caveat attached to their patrolling of I-575 that runs through their respective jurisdictions. And this lack of jurisdiction continues to cost the city of Woodstock tens of thousands of dollars, officials argue.

Since January 2012, Woodstock officers have responded more than 8,000 times to incidents as well as accidents on the interstate, the police department told Patch. Just in 2016 alone, the agency responded to 404 accidents, 502 stranded motorists, 413 lookouts for impaired drivers, reckless drivers and other incidents such as road rage and tailgating.

The responses, the agency contends, accounted for between 1.5 and 1.75 full time officer's time at an annual cost of nearly $70,000. Officers also made 41 arrests for driving under the influence on I-575 in 2016.

Based on the five-year trends and the addition of highway lanes being added through the Georgia Department of Transportation's Northwest Express Lane Project, it is "projected that the number of accidents and incidents requiring law enforcement attention on I-575 will only continue to increase," Woodstock police contend.

With all of this in mind, the city has relentlessly held out hope that its request to grant Woodstock municipal jurisdiction over traffic citations written on its stretch of the interstate will be approved by Cherokee legislative delegation and, ultimately, the Georgia General Assembly.

Unfortunately for Woodstock, roadblocks remain in the way towards this path of gaining the same treatment as the cities of Holly Springs, Canton and Ball Ground. First, the city struggled to get the unanimous support of its elected officials, a rule imposed upon local governing bodies by the delegation.

Finally, just in time for the start of the 2017 legislative session, Woodstock had the unanimous backing of its elected officials and submitted its request to the delegation. Despite the consensus among the City Council members, state legislators continue to raise questions and express reservations about the city's request.

The frustration of not being able to get the issue passed in the state legislature was evident when Patch reached out to City Manager Jeff Moon.

"At this point, if I expressed my true feelings, you probably couldn’t print them," he said.

This time around, State Rep. Scot Turner, a Republican of Holly Springs, floated the idea that a referendum should be sent to voters to consider granting the city jurisdiction of traffic citations written on I-575. That referendum, he added, was put forth to voters in Cherokee County, and was "overwhelmingly denied by the voters."

The referendum Turner is referring to went before voters in 1996, and Woodstock's request was rejected 20,596 to 15,360, Jennifer Akins, assistant supervisor of elections and voter registration, previously told Patch.

"If there is going to be an effort to undo a public referendum, I believe the question should be put back to the voters," Turner added, noting he's unaware of voters rejecting a similar request from other Cherokee cities. "I trust the wisdom of the voters and think that if Woodstock wants to make their case to the public, they should have that opportunity."

When the idea of a referendum was floated from legislators to Woodstock leaders, the proposal was ran by the City Council, said City Manager Jeff Moon.

"Not only did we not get a unanimous response, we didn’t get a majority response in favor," he said. "I think the objection was, 'why do we have to go to referendum to be treated like every other city in the state'?"

Moon did say Woodstock was pleased that the majority of the delegation supported Woodstock's request and "agreed that we should be treated the same as ever other city in the state and not discriminated against."

"Their vote of confidence in the men and women of the Woodstock Police Department was greatly appreciated," he added, also thanking Rep. Turner for meeting with the city and eventually agreeing to disagree.

RELATED

• Woodstock Approves Resolution Seeking Court Jurisdiction On I-575
• Woodstock Remains Divided On I-575 Municipal Court Jurisdiction

State Rep. Mandi Ballinger said she also liked the idea of a referendum, as "it's always a good thing" when elected officials can empower the voters to make a decision on an issue that will directly affect them.

The Republican state legislator from Canton told Patch she has been "confused" by Woodstock's assertion that not having this ability to process traffic citations in its Municipal Court costs the city money. She added that if Woodstock "can prove to me" that this is, in fact, costing the police department money, then she would be willing to take another look at the issue in the near future.

This isn't Ballinger's first run-in with the Woodstock Police Department. Patch learned Ballinger was cited by Woodstock police in August 2014 for running a red light at the intersection of Arnold Mill Road and Main Street. Court records show the case was bound over to Cherokee County State Court, and Ballinger pleaded guilty in June 2015 to a lesser offense of violating "basic rules" of the road and paid a $205 fine.

When asked if the ticket has played a role in her opposition, Ballinger balked at the assertion.

"It’s not even on 575, and has nothing to do with 575," she told Patch.

For the man tasked with running the Woodstock Police Department, the question boils down to fairness. Police Chief Cal Moss reiterates that the city loses money when traffic citations are adjudicated through State Court either at the insistence of defendants or when special circumstances require those cases be handled at the state level.

“The city loses any fine that results and, therefore, the taxpayers are unfairly burdened because we don’t have the opportunity recoup any of those expenses from responding to those incidents," Moss, who has been leading the department for five years, said.

Another twist to this story: Moss said having citations heard in Municipal Court will allow judges to be sensitive to the staffing needs and duties of officers who are needed in those cases. That leniency is not granted in State Court, forcing some officers to travel while they are off duty or from their homes, which isn't necessarily in Woodstock.

Moss also said it's "unfortunate" that Ballinger has questions about the city's reasoning behind its request. He noted he offered to sit down with the legislator to go over the issue piece by piece, but Ballinger declined the request. An email obtained from Patch shows Moss reaching out to Ballinger on Feb. 22 of this year, asking her to support the city's request and suggesting a face-to-face meeting if she had any lingering questions about the city's petition.

Ballinger responded on Feb. 23, informing Moss that she has "spoken with many about this issue," and did not address the chief's request to meet and hash out the details.

The chief said he hopes the issue of Woodstock not being treated fairly will eventually get through to the legislators who have reservations about the city's plight and its end goal.

“Our end goal is to be treated like every other jurisdiction and to be able to hear those cases that our officers spend time and Woodstock taxpayers dollars on...in Woodstock Municipal Court and to be able to keep our Woodstock officers in Woodstock," Moss added.

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