Butte’s two Justices of the peace and the city court judge handle heavy caseloads every week, and having only one courtroom just isn’t going to cut it anymore.
They are now having a new courtroom built on the fourth floor of the Butte Courthouse.
“You know, our volume of cases is extremely high, so it just makes it difficult for the three of us to use the one courtroom,” said Butte City Judge Jerome McCarthy.
The area of the courthouse, which hasn’t been used in years, is being converted to a courtroom to handle bench trials for cases involving misdemeanors or small claims. The new room will also be used to handle drug and DUI Courts and juvenile matters.
“We’re quickly running out of room, but we want to provide better service for the citizens of Silver Bow County,” said Butte Justice Jimm Kilmer.
It’s certainly going to take a lot of elbow grease to get the rooms back into shape. This part of the courthouse has not been used in more than three decades, but the judges say they’re excited to finally see it get back into use.
“We are so blessed, all three of us, every day to work in a building that’s so unique, and we have people coming in every day to tell us just how amazing it is to work here, but to bring this back and to make it safer and easier to do their business every day,” said Butte Justice Ben Pezdark.
