SEQUIM — To Marci Protze, justice ought not depend on wheels.
Protze’s title is executive assistant to Sequim Police Chief Robert Spinks. But for the past year, she’s taken on a special project: planning for a court of Sequim’s own.
During Monday night’s Sequim City Council meeting, she delivered the fruit of her labor in the form of a strategic outline of a municipal court that would be expensive to set up, and that may save the city much money.
But though Protze understands the need for fiscal vigilance — she’s in the midst of earning a master’s in business administration — she believes a municipal court should not be about money.
“This is for the [crime] victims, and for the witnesses,” who can’t easily travel 25 miles or more for court appearances, she began.
A victim of domestic violence, for example, must see a judge in District Court in Port Angeles if he or she seeks a restraining order against an abuser.
“What if someone doesn’t have a car? They can take the bus. But what if they can’t take off work to go to Port Angeles?” Protze asked.
For crime victims who live in Sequim or in rural pockets of the Dungeness Valley, going to court in Port Angeles is not only time-consuming, but also stressful, she added.
Since the point of a court system is to provide equal justice for all, Protze believes that if Sequim had its own courtroom and judge, the city’s residents will have better access to that justice.
The court would be housed in the council chambers, aka the Transit Center at 190 W. Cedar St.
