Municipal Judge Blaine Clooten sits in his courtroom Jan. 23, 2023, as he prepares for the day’s hearings in Pendleton City Hall. The city council at its meeting Tuesday, Sept. 5, adopted an ordinance to make the court a court of record following a recommendation from Clooten and City Attorney Nancy Kerns.

PENDLETON — The Pendleton Municipal Court could become a court of record.

The city council at its meeting Tuesday, Sept. 5, heard the first reading of an ordinance to make the court a court of record following a recommendation from City Attorney Nancy Kerns and Municipal Court Judge Blaine Clooten.

“By law, because our court is not currently a court of record, cases from the municipal court may be either ‘transferred’ at arraignment to the circuit court or ‘appealed’ after final judgement to the circuit court,” Kerns and Clooten wrote in a proposal to city council. “An appeal acts as a do-over and the entire case is relitigated, using the same prosecutor, same officer, same witnesses, same facts, and a different jury. Since January of 2023, 17 cases have either been transferred or appealed from PMC to Circuit court.”

By becoming a court of record, the Pendleton Municipal Court would maintain its own records and be able to eliminate the need for transfers and handle appeals in-house for the first time.

“If you are charged with a crime in a court that is not a court of record and you go to trial and are convicted, you may appeal to circuit court, just for the asking,” Kerns said. “Without records when someone appeals, it can be hard to find where the error in the previous trial occurred as there is no record and takes up even more resources.”

Kerns said the city court was situated to make the change, as the court meets in the Pendleton City Council chambers, which has video and audio recording equipment.

It will be as simple as turning on the cameras for court, she said, and the transition to a court of record will mean little for the day-to-day operations of municipal court, other than perhaps a bit more clerical work.

“Pendleton will pay for an online storage program for the files produced in court,” Kerns said. “It’s likely to be a subscription model, and clerks will manage those files, so it makes for a bit more work but it won’t require new personnel.”

Kerns said the change is about keeping a more complete record of the goings-on at court and will make legal proceedings more efficient with a complete record.

“There is a consensus among stakeholders in the court system that now is the right time to make the change,” Kerns and Clooten wrote. “This recommendation comes in an expedited fashion to capitalize on momentum and to minimize future expenses due to appeal.”

The city council considers approving the change at its meeting Sept. 19.