Othello, Adams County near agreement on court costs

OTHELLO — After years of somewhat contentious discussions, the city of Othello and Adams County appear to have reached an agreement on sharing the costs of maintaining Othello District Court.

Police Chief Phil Schenck told members of the city council during an online meeting Monday that Adams County is prepared to accept a three-year deal that would have Othello pay roughly $160,000 per year for its portion of the costs.

“Currently, we pay around $90,000 per year,” Schenck said.

Adams County is asking for more to help cover the costs of new, full-time security at the District Court in Othello, Schenck said. The costs of running the court alone, without including prosecution and defense costs, is around $300,000, the police chief added.

The countywide cost for providing indigent defense is around $500,000, Schenck said, with slightly more than half of that accounted for by Othello residents. The chief also noted that, on average, around 55 percent of the misdemeanor cases heard in the court are Othello residents.

The city and the county have been in negotiations over court costs for a number of years, with the county asking the city to pay for more of the court’s expenses.

However, council member Corey Everett said he wanted to see specific numbers in any proposed contract and asked Schenck to get that contract to the next council meeting for review.

“I do not want to subsidize the county,” Everett said.

“The county would argue they’ve been subsidizing the city of Othello,” Mayor Shawn Logan responded.

Schenck said he would have a contract with Adams County available for review prior to the city council’s next meeting on Aug. 10.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.