Apache Junction judge asks council to approve five associate magistrate contracts and to designate juvenile hearing officers

Municipal Court Judge Merrick told the Apache Junction City Council at a work session that he is seeking approval for three new associate magistrate contracts and updates to two existing contracts so the court will meet city qualification rules and have adequate coverage.

Merrick said the court needs additional associate magistrates because the existing contract arrangement is “on call as needed” and the magistrates are also practicing attorneys. He said that when he is at training or otherwise unavailable the court must have qualified coverage and that, on at least one prior occasion, an associate who filled in did not meet city-code qualifications. “I can't give you the exact number,” Merrick said when asked how many juvenile cases the court could retain locally, saying he had been unable to pull precise counts but expected the number to be “noticeable” once local juvenile hearings resume.

The judge named three people included in the contract requests: Miss Rolle (a former Pinal County director of elections and appellate attorney), Cody Wiegand (a current pro tem in Pinal County), and Megan Wiegand (a former court commissioner who covered juvenile calendars in Pinal County). Merrick said he knows all three professionally and that their qualifications meet Arizona State Bar requirements. He also said the five contract terms are substantially the same as prior contracts, that all five applicants had signed and notarized their agreements, and that he had worked with city legal staff to update contract verbiage.

Separately, Merrick asked the council to approve six people — himself plus five others — to serve as juvenile hearing officers under Arizona Revised Statutes 8-323 so the municipal court can hear a limited list of juvenile matters (mostly traffic-related city-code offenses) rather than having the police file petitions that are sent to Superior Court in Florence. Merrick told the council he has been approved by Judge Georgini of the Superior Court for juvenile hearing duties and said some proposed officers already have approvals from other counties; he said Mr. Wiegand is probably already approved as a pro tem and that “Judge Kilski is already approved by Maricopa County as a juvenile hearing officer.”

Council members asked clarifying questions during the discussion. One council member asked whether Cody and Megan Wiegand are husband and wife; Merrick confirmed they are and said he does not expect them to serve on the same day. Another council member asked how many juvenile matters would shift back to municipal court; Merrick said he did not have exact counts and could not provide a number at the meeting. A city staff member told the council that both items will appear on tomorrow night’s consent agenda for formal action.

No formal council vote on the contracts or juvenile hearing officer appointments took place during the work session; the items were listed for the consent agenda at the subsequent council meeting.