FULL-TIME U.S. JUDGE IS NEEDED NOW

Several months ago there was quite a flurry of activity regarding proposed sites for a new federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau. Nowadays hardly anything is heard about the project. The reason is simple: While funding has been authorized to purchase the land, no construction funding has been approved. The General Services Administration, which oversees these projects, says it won't buy land until the construction funds are in place. The latest estimate is the funding might be part of the fiscal 1999 budget, which means no land purchase until late 1998.

There is another wrinkle in the project, one that by all accounts shouldn't exist. Moreover, conflicting information from two parts of the federal bureaucracy indicate that the lines of communication aren't what they ought to be.

The issue here is whether or not a full-time federal judge will be assigned to Cape Girardeau. Right now, the six U.S. district judges based in St. Louis are rotated here to preside over civil and criminal cases.

The GSA says that, even with funding approval, it isn't likely to pursue construction of a new courthouse unless there is a full-time judge. As a matter of fact, a GSA spokesman said a couple of weeks ago that it had written assurance from the chief district judge that a full-time judge would be appointed when the courthouse is completed.

But Chief Judge Jean Hamilton told a meeting of lawyers here last September that the caseload, while growing, still isn't big enough to warrant a full-time judge. And the chief deputy clerk of the federal court in St. Louis echoed those remarks recently when he said the judges haven't made any decision about a permanent full-time judge here.

To hear lawyers talk, there clearly is a need for speedier handling of federal cases in Cape Girardeau. Because of the rotation system, judges have set a priority for hearing criminal cases, many of which are bogged down in scheduling. As a result, civil cases are pushed far down the court calendar, and the parties involved are all be despairing of getting a hearing any time soon.

The current federal building, which houses other federal officials as well as the U.S. district court, is inadequate to meet current needs. Everyone seems to agree on that point. The full-time judge/new courthouse issue appears to be a chicken-or-the-egg question. Which comes first?

Meeting the needs of the federal court system should be the first priority. Even if temporary space needs to be found, every effort should be made to clear up the mounting backlog of federal cases being filed in Cape Girardeau. By the time funding for a new courthouse is approved, the question of a full-time judge would be readily apparent.