UTICA — The village of Utica is making changes to how it operates its Mayor’s Court in order to save money.
“When we have the regular court date scheduled on the third Thursday of every month, if a person pleads guilty or no contest, the magistrate will deal with the case that night. If the person pleads not guilty, then he will bring them back to the next court session and have a trial,” Utica Mayor Larry Friesel said at a Village Council meeting Monday.
Friesel said this new schedule will allow the village to have its police officers at the court session only when the officers are needed to testify for a trial instead of waiting during the entire court session.
Prior to this change, the magistrate performed everything in the same session. Friesel said this will also save the village in solicitor fees by knowing in advance when the solicitor will be needed.
“We are going to monitor this for six months and see how it works but we believe it will save us money,” he said.
