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By Associated PressSave money by sending Broward's federal cases to Miami and West Palm Beach, his memo recommends.
FORT LAUDERDALE - South Florida's chief federal judge has upset some community leaders by proposing closing the U.S. courthouse in Broward County and moving its cases to Miami and West Palm Beach to save money.
Chief U.S. District Judge William J. Zloch made the proposal in a memo to Carolyn Dineen King, chief judge of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Houston and chairwoman of the executive committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States.
He said closing the courthouse could save $100-million in the first year and $7.6-million annually from then on.
The "judiciary's dire budget forecasts demand bold new strategies for doing more with less," Zloch said.
With growing caseloads, increasing expenses and limited congressional funding, the federal judiciary recently imposed a two-year suspension on 42 federal courthouse construction projects, including one in Fort Lauderdale.
Zloch proposed distributing 40 percent of the cases to Miami and 60 percent to West Palm Beach. Zloch was not available for comment Thursday, but Broward community leaders criticized his idea, saying the courthouse offers jobs and prestige to the county.
"The 1.7-million people of Broward County deserve access to the federal court system," said Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle. "It would be devastating move," said state Rep. Jack Seiler, D-Wilton Manors. "Your average juror or litigant would have to travel an hour and a half to three hours to get their case heard? That concerns me."
A move could also cut jobs for personnel and the U.S. Marshals Service, and federal public defenders and private law firms would have to reconsider their Broward operations.