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Parker approves municipal-court interlocal with Saint Paul and a prosecutor fee schedule
Summary
Council approved an interlocal agreement to provide municipal court services for the nearby Town of Saint Paul and adopted a prosecutor fee schedule to compensate extra court work; both measures passed unanimously, 5-0.
The Parker City Council on April 1 approved two measures affecting municipal court operations: an interlocal agreement (ILA) to provide municipal court services to the nearby town of Saint Paul and a new prosecutor fee schedule to compensate the city’s contract prosecutor for out-of-docket work such as trial preparation.
The council voted 5-0 to approve both the ILA and the fee schedule.
Saint Paul interlocal agreement
Kent Swaner, the mayor of Saint Paul, described the ILA as a “win-win” arrangement designed to reduce court costs for his town by sharing Parker’s court infrastructure and staff. Swaner told the council Saint Paul will start by sending code-enforcement matters to Parker’s court and agreed to the city’s prosecutor fee schedule; he said Saint Paul does not plan to create its own police services and expects minimal demand on Parker’s court.
Council members asked whether the ILA naming of the municipal judge required joint agreement; the city attorney said she would check whether a statutory requirement exists and that the ILA could be amended if needed. Council included direction that if legal constraints allowed, the city could clarify judge-selection language in a later amendment. The ILA passed 5-0.
Prosecutor fee schedule
Council also adopted a formal fee schedule for the city prosecutor, covering flat fees and hourly alternatives for time‑intensive tasks such as preparing briefs, attending trials, or other out-of-docket work. Council members said they supported compensating extra work but asked staff to monitor prosecutor billings so any budget impacts would be visible; finance staff agreed to report if fees began to exceed expectations. The fee-schedule resolution passed 5-0.
Why it matters: The ILA represents regional cooperation for municipal services and may reduce costs for Saint Paul while increasing Parker’s court workload; the prosecutor fee schedule clarifies compensation for nonstandard court work and helps the city budget anticipated legal costs.
Ending: Both the interlocal agreement with Saint Paul and the prosecutor fee schedule were approved by unanimous vote; the city attorney will follow up on judge-selection language if state law requires joint approval and staff will monitor prosecutor billings for budget impacts.
