Signal Mountain Police are taking more cases off the mountain to be handled.
Chief Mike Williams said there are about 5-6 instances per month when Signal Mountain officers take someone into custody. He said those cases are being shifted to General Sessions Court instead of the Signal Mountain Court.
He said it can take up to three hours to fill out all the paperwork required at the Signal Mountain Court. With additional charges, there are many more forms involved, he said.
The chief, a former Chattanooga Police Department assistant chief, stated, "At the County Jail, there is just one form that is typed into a computer. It cuts the processing time by about two-thirds."
Chief Williams also said, when bond is set on Signal Mountain, there is sometimes an issue of cash that has to be handled and kept secure. He said officers are not involved in the handling of cash on bonds at the county.
He said Signal Mountain officers do not have to go to court in Chattanooga when the cases are settled at the initial appearance.
Cases that involve citations, which are the bulk of the cases, are still sent to the Signal Mountain Court. He said the overall number of cases is about 50 per month.
He said the court on the mountain "probably has not noticed" much difference in the caseload since the custodial cases are a low percentage of the total.
Criminal Court Clerk Vince Dean said Signal Mountain now supplies to his court the dates that its officers could come to court if required to do so.
He said some other municipalities also opt to use General Sessions Court - most notably Chattanooga.
Mark Rothberger is the longtime judge on Signal Mountain.