Newport Makes Its Case for a Court of Its Own
Five hundred signatures back a push to carve a new judicial district out of the east side, with Newport as the place to hold court.
A large number of Newport people were in the city this week with a petition asking that a separate judicial district be created on the east side, with the range for the division point and the place for holding court at Newport. The petition bore about 500 signatures, and we learn that the district will likely be created, as there is no disposition on the part of the people of Colville to throw any obstruction in the way of the proposition.
The people of Newport propose to provide a place for holding court free of charge to the county, and cases arising from the Newport country will be tried at Newport, thereby saving the trouble and expense of a long trip to Colville. A separate jury will also be drawn in that district.
In the matter of saving expense, however, the saving will not amount to a great deal, but as a matter of accommodation to the people of the east side the proposition has some merit. However the matter may be decided by the commissioners, the people of Colville will say well and good. — Statesman-Index.
“The petition bore about 500 signatures, and we learn that the district will likely be created.”
Then as now, distance from the county seat was a practical burden: a trip to Colville meant time, expense, and inconvenience for people with business in court. The petition shows Newport's early appetite for local control over institutions that served the east side.
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