Monday, March 2, 2009

Rolla Municipal Court Relocates to City Hall

After months of debating and discussing where the most feasible and economical location would be for the location of Rolla Municipal Court, Rolla City Council recently voted to approve the relocation of the Municipal Court Courtroom and administrative offices to Rolla City Hall.

The Municipal Court Courtroom and administrative offices were formerly located in the old Phelps County Courthouse located at 305 West 3rd Street. The Court’s administrative offices are now located on the second floor of City Hall, and the Courtroom will be held in the City Council Chambers on the first floor of City Hall.

The need to find another location for Rolla Municipal Court was both a cost-cutting measure, and an effort to provide ADA accessible facilities that did not exist at the old Phelps County Courthouse. Rolla City Hall, which was completely renovated in March 2006, is ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessible, and equipped to accommodate Municipal Court and the administrative staff.

Prior to being located in the Old Phelps County Courthouse, Municipal Court had previously been located on the fourth floor of City Hall. So the move back to City Hall after the renovations were completed is something the City had explored, discussed and considered for some time.

Municipal Court Sessions will continue to be held every Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. and the first Friday of each month at 8:30 a.m. in the Municipal Court Courtroom, first floor, Rolla City Hall, 901 North Elm Street.

If you have any questions regarding Municipal Court, please contact Rita Duvall, Municipal Court Clerk, at (573) 364-8590 or (573) 364-7190, or stop by the second floor of Rolla City Hall between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Ample free parking is available in the City’s municipal parking lots next to City Hall off 9th Street in downtown Rolla.

Updated information regarding the relocation of Municipal Court is also available on the City’s Website at www.rollacity.org/muncourt.

In closing I’d like to remind everyone that the City of Rolla Public Works Department is partnering with the Phelps County Master Gardener/Master Naturalist and the Missouri University Extension to bring an environmental education program to the Rolla community.

The Healthy Yards for Clear Streams program is an effort to help landowners and businesses become more environmentally responsible with lawn and landscape practices. The goal is to promote lawn care practices that create beautiful lawns and gardens while reducing unnecessary use of pesticides and fertilizers that may run off and contaminate local streams.

The following workshops are free and will be held at The Centre (1200 North Holloway St.), from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on the following days:
Monday, March 2: Why Connect Yards & Healthy Lawn Care
Monday, March 9: Right Plant, Right Place & Using Native Plants and Rain Gardens
Monday, March 16: Soils & Integrated Pest Management and Effective Use of Garden Chemicals

The program is sponsored by MU Extension through the Master Gardener and Master Naturalist programs with support from the City of Rolla and partial funding from a Missouri Department of Natural Resources Mini Grant.

For more information or to register, please call Phelps County Extension at (573) 458-6260.

Mayor Bill Jenks, III

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