Officials need to step up and find funding for a successful mediation service, otherwise Orange County residents will likely find themselves spending more time in district criminal courtrooms.
For more than three decades, Orange County has provided mediation services to resolve minor issues out of court, but no more. Thanks to a $1.1 million cut in state funding to 20 mediation centers across the state, Orange County no longer has funding for such criminal district court services. The Orange County center received $60,000 last year, $25,000 less than in previous years.
The Dispute Settlement Center in Carrboro mediates about 200 cases for the county each year with an 85 percent success rate. Without state support, the 170 cases which could have been mediated peacefully will likely end up in court, wasting time, money and resources.
Courts can only hear one case at a time and these “miracle workers”, as retired district court judge Pat DeVine calls them, allow courts to focus on serious criminal cases such as DWIs, assaults and drug crimes rather than petty citizen disputes about broken windows and minor quarrels.
Sixty thousand dollars is a small price to pay to keep minor disputes off the already crowded court docket. Failing to do so would be an injustice to the justice system.
