Grey County will look at how it might take some pressure off the Owen Sound taxpayer when it comes to paying for courthouse security.
The Province’s Community Safety and Policing Act says the responsibility for local courthouse security falls on the local police service, in this case Owen Sound Police.
The Owen Sound courthouse actually serves a much larger region than just the city.
In 2023, it cost the Owen Sound taxpayers about $236,000 to provide courthouse security and prisoner transportation for the Ontario Court of Justice and Superior Court of Justice in Owen Sound.
County Councillor and Owen Sound Mayor Ian Boddy made a motion Thursday, (June 27) that council direct staff to prepare a report summarizing the issue and providing options or models for funding.
Boddy told council, for criminal court it serves everybody from Tobermory to Sauble Beach, and all of Grey County with the exception of Hanover and West Grey.
He says, “There is a lot of security that has to be in that building. There has been violence in courthouses over the years– not necessarily this one, that have increased the need for policing. Quite often, it’s the motion of family court not just criminal court that requires policing.”
Boddy told council Thursday, “In 2008 as part of the provincial-municipal fiscal and service delivery review, the Province uploaded court security costs for communities that host courthouses across the province. This upload reached its maximum allocation of $125 million in 2018. In 2023, the City’s total cost for court security and prisoner transportation for the service area was $565,569 in total. In 2023 the City received a provincial allocation of $329,336 which left the taxpayers of Owen Sound solely responsible for $236,233 in costs related to court security and prisoner transportation.”
Boddy, added, “As you know, we don’t have a Grey County jail here anymore, it’s all in Penetang. (Penetanguishene) That’s part of the transportation, and it’s transporting people that aren’t just Owen Sound residents, obviously, they’re Grey County residents.”
Boddy says in 2021, a consulting company examined court security and how it’s funded. They predicted transportation and court security would only increase in cost over time, and the gap between the cost to the City and the funding coming from the province will continue to widen.
Boddy notes, Oxford County has taken a similar approach with its Woodstock courthouse.
Council supported the motion for staff to prepare a report that looks at how to allocate cost among member municipalities.