There is a plan to improve and speed things up at local courthouses. The plan was announced by the province in Barrie on Monday afternoon.
The province admits the court system is bottlenecked and says some serious criminal cases are getting ‘stayed’ or ‘suspended’ because they’ve taken too long to get to trial.
On Monday the Attorney General unveiled a plan to hire more court staff, and to expand a Salvation Army program that helps offenders. The announcement was made at the Salvation Army in Barrie, which already has a ‘Bail Verification and Supervision Program’ in place. The government will expand that program, and will also add more staff to the Barrie Court House to speed up bail decisions.
“We are hiring a new bail vettor Crown attorney who will facilitate faster bail decisions and resolutions in bail court,” said Attorney General, Yasir Naqvi.“We are also going to hire a new duty council bail co-ordinator to work with the accused, to speed up the bail decision making process,” he said.
Barrie has also been selected to be part of a bail beds program. It will provide safe, supportive and supervised housing for vulnerable accused people who require extra supervision. Ten new bail beds should be available in Barrie by spring.
