City Council Chair Carol Berz on Tuesday brought up the issue of whether, under its charter, the city is required to have a City Court.
She also asked Assistant City Attorney Phil Noblett to look into the issue of whether the city is required to have two divisions of City Court.
Attorney Noblett said he also will look into the ramifications of the Municipal Court Reform Act on Chattanooga City Court.
It was noted that City Court a number of years ago lost jurisdiction over felony cases that are now handled in General Sessions Court. City Court no longer has involvement in parking tickets - except for appeals. Cases it does hear include traffic, animal control and environmental.
The budget for Judge Sherry Paty's Division 1 is $468,814 and for Judge Russell Bean's Division II is $442,861.
It costs $1.2 million to operate the clerk's office for City Court.
Both judges share a single courtroom. Judge Paty holds court on Monday-Thursday, while Judge Bean has late afternoon and Friday court.
Councilman Jerry Mitchell, who is over the finance committee that is holding city budget hearings, said he had expected a city judge to appear at the session. He noted, "They're not here."
Later, Councilman Chris Anderson, noting that the police chief was coming for a budget session next Tuesday, said he "could stop by 600 Market St. (where City Court is located)."
Councilman Ken Smith noted that the City Council has subpoena power.
Judge Paty said she had gotten an email last Wednesday about the budget hearings, but was not told to come any specific time.
She said the City Court budget "is bare bones and stays the same so there usually are not any questions about it."
She added, "I certainly don't have any problems with answering questions about it though."
Judge Paty noted that she and Judge Bean did come to the hearings last year when the new Budgeting for Outcomes was launched.
On the issue of whether a City Court is necessary, she said she would not expect any changes in the middle of their terms. She noted that she and Judge Bean were elected last year to new eight-year terms.