Municipal Court Will Move To Courthouse
Beginning Friday, Feb. 15, Ava Municipal Court will be held in the Douglas County Courthouse.
Ava Mayor Eddie Maggard said, regarding the move, “We appreciate the cooperation the county has shown in allowing us to use the courtroom one day a month for our municipal court.”
For the past several years, municipal court has been held in the Rawlings Building which also houses the police station.
Maggard said holding municipal court in the court room will create an atmosphere of formal legal proceedings that has been missing in city court.
Douglas County Presiding Commissioner Larry Pueppke said he is happy to see the city and county work together in this agreement.
The city will use Court Room No. 2 (the smaller room) at no cost to the city. Circuit Clerk Kim Hathcock has also said the larger court room may be used by the city if needed, if and when the room is available.
Maggard said he appreciates the cooperation of the county, as well as Circuit Judge Craig Carter and Associate Judge Elizabeth Bock in making this move possible.
“These are legal court proceedings and people appearing in court should conduct themselves in an appropriate manner”, the mayor said.
Shannon Bryant-Gamble is the city’s municipal judge and Larry Tyrrell is city attorney/city prosecutor.