Columnist Jeff German: Yet another building snag at the new Regional Justice Center

Friday, Nov. 11, 2005 | 8:14 a.m.

Jeff German's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday in the Sun. Reach him at german@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4067.

Gaining access to the courts was never a problem at the old courthouse.

That's because the courtrooms were on two floors, and you didn't need elevators to get to them.

But you throw elevators into the mix at the new Regional Justice Center, which has courtrooms on the 10th through 17th floors, and suddenly gaining access to the courts is more valuable than gold -- and something worth fighting over.

The six public elevators have become a nightmare to use during peak morning hours. They simply can't handle the crush of people, often creating long waiting lines.

And now a fight is brewing over access to the two nonpublic elevators used by some 1,400 employees at the high rise. Those elevators also are in heavy demand, and courthouse officials are looking to tighten up their use in the coming weeks.

District Attorney David Roger is worried that a move is afoot among the judges to prohibit more than 100 prosecutors and support staff in his criminal division on the ninth floor from using the back elevators.

"Our people are living in this house," Roger says. "As far as I'm concerned, the building is owned by the public, not the judiciary. We have an absolute right to have access to the entire building just like the judiciary."

Roger's worries are apparently well-grounded.

Chief District Judge Kathy Hardcastle tells me that she doesn't see a need to let prosecutors use those elevators.

Hardcastle says court employees who regularly cart files to court should have top priority.

But Chuck Short, the county's court administrator, says a final decision has not been made yet on who will ultimately be able to use the elevators.

"Nobody has been denied access right now," he says. "It sounds to me like (Roger) is getting ahead of the process. He needs to give the process a chance to work."

Some court officials, however, say that allowing prosecutors to use the elevators gives them unwarranted access to the back hallways where the judges and their staffs work.

That, the officials say, is unfair to defense lawyers and public defenders, who don't have similar access.

The brouhaha over the elevators surfaced this week at a regular committee meeting of the building's various department representatives. Nevada Supreme Court Justice Michael Douglas felt the meeting was important enough for him to attend to make sure Supreme Court employees on the 17th floor retain their rights to the elevators.

The panel decided to create a five-member subcommittee to examine the access issue.

Court officials, meanwhile, are downplaying the spat with prosecutors.

"It's the usual move-in woes," Hardcastle says. "Anytime you move into a new house or building, you're going to run into things that were not anticipated, and we're looking to fix them."

District Court spokesman Michael Sommermeyer adds: "We've gone from a horizontal to a vertical building. Everybody's still trying to figure out how to use it."

In the process, however, tempers are rising.

"This is just plain silly," Roger says. "We're not common criminals. We're law enforcement officers."

"This is the Regional Justice Center, not the Judge Kathy Hardcastle Building."