Court staff next week will start shifting and setting up an Oamaru office at the Work and Income building in Coquet St, then open on Monday, March 12, Oamaru registrar Peter Bond said yesterday.
The next criminal sitting of the court, set down for March 14, at this stage will be in Oamaru at the opera house's Inkbox, he said.
Judge Joanna Maze, appointed in March last year as resident judge in Timaru to also sit in the Ashburton and Oamaru courts, said during the Oamaru court sitting in Timaru on Wednesday that it was almost certain court would be held in Oamaru on March 14, but also warned those set down to attend to check closer to the date.
The 1883 Oamaru courthouse was closed at the end of November after an engineering report assessed it at high risk from earthquakes and needing remedial work. It was expected to take up to a year to assess the Oamaru stone building and carry out remedial work.
In the meantime, Oamaru court staff were to work out of the Timaru courthouse. Some sittings such as Disputes Tribunal and Family Court were held in alternative premises in Oamaru, but Oamaru criminal court was held in Timaru.
A working party made up of Waitaki District Council, law society and other representatives started investigating an alternative site for criminal hearings in Oamaru, and the Ministry of Justice accepted using the opera house.
Holding sittings in Timaru put a strain on defendants, lawyers and court staff who had a two-hour return trip. Some defendants were not able to appear when scheduled because they did not have or could not arrange transport, some resorting to hitch-hiking.
The Oamaru courthouse was one of seven closed after the Ministry of Justice received reports they were an earthquake risk.
