Could the Benton-Franklin Superior Court split up?

Buried near the end of the House version of the proposed supplemental state budget is a notation of future legislation to split the Benton-Franklin County Superior Court System in two.

Section 920 of the budget bill states: "The legislature intends to enact legislation in the 2021 session that provides for the separation of the joint superior court in Benton and Franklin counties into independent superior courts for each county. By December 1, 2020, the legislative authorities of Benton and Franklin counties must provide the administrative office of the courts and the appropriate committees of the legislature with an operational plan that indicates how to accomplish this intent. The superior court judges and each county clerk must provide all necessary assistance in the development of the plan, and the legislative authorities must consult with the superior court judges and each county clerk. The plan must be accompanied by legislative recommendations necessary for implementation.

"A year and half from now is when that proviso would come back, with a plan in place, with the funding and with all those questions answered, so we can come back to our citizens and answer a lot of those questions and make sure we are transparent and accountable to everybody", 8th District Representative Matt Boehnke said in an interview on "The Bottom Line".

Rep. Boehnke, of Kennewick, introduced the idea in Olympia at the behest of one of the Benton County Commissions, though he would not say which one. He says the move is based more on the quantity of caseloads and not the quality of the services currently being provided.

"I don't believe that there is any big issue that has come up that says that it is broken, Rep Boehnke notes, I think it's just a matter of that growth and how we support those services."

No plan has been announced about how this would look, but four of the six local commissioners must sign off on the move before anything can move forward.