Lloydminster Saskatchewan Provincial Court will be converted to a circuit point court Sept.1.
The court will function similar to the province’s other 61 circuit points.
“Judges, staff, and files will be housed in North Battleford, with court parties travelling to hold court in the community (in this case, Lloydminster) on a regular basis,” said Dawn Blaus, Communications Officer for Saskatchewan Courts.
“There is no change to the Lloydminster sitting schedule, nor to the schedule of any of its circuit points.”
The Chief Judge, in consultation with the Ministry of Justice, regularly reviews and assigns circuit points to balance the court’s workload and ensure communities receive appropriate service levels.
“This particular change strengthens the court’s capacity in the area by centralizing judicial resources, which permits better sharing of workloads and streamlined scheduling, in turn improving the court’s ability to respond to community needs and decide cases in a timely manner,” said Blaus.
Nine staff members in the Lloydminster Provincial Court office are affected by this decision. Two staff members will have the option to transfer to the North Battleford Provincial Court office, three positions will be ended and four term positions will end early.
“We will support affected staff through this transition,” said Margherita Vittorelli, spokesperson for Saskatchewan Justice. "Affected staff will also be able to access supports through the Employee and Family Assistance Program."
Story updated June 9 to reflect comments from the Saskatchewan Ministry of Justice.
