Juvenile courts in Danbury and Stamford are among four state courthouses set to close by the end of the year due to a $77 million net reduction to the Judicial Branch budget.
Cases at the Danbury Juvenile Court will be transferred to the Bridgeport and Waterbury juvenile courts, while such cases at the Stamford Juvenile Court will be moved to Bridgeport. The Stamford Judicial District Courthouse at 123 Hoyt St. will remain open for all other court business.
In addition, juvenile cases in Torrington will be transferred to Waterbury and New Britain, while juvenile cases heard at the Judicial District Courthouse in Willimantic will be heard at the Putnam Judicial District Courthouse or the Geographical Area Courthouse No. 11 in Danielson.
Connecticut”™s Chief Court Administrator Patrick L. Carroll III said the $77 million net reduction to the Judicial Branch budget represents a 13 percent cut. While other court closures are possible, no indications as to where or when those might take place have been made.
“It is unfortunate that these courthouse closings must occur,” he remarked. “They will be disruptive and will impact many people. I want to stress that the closure of courthouses is not driven by savings generated by closing the facilities. Rather, these closings are required because of the loss of staff, through attrition, a strict hiring freeze and layoffs that have already been announced.”
