Clinton Township may create a motor carrier unit to increase the 41B District Court’s revenue picture, which continues on a downward path since the pandemic.

The court serves three communities: Michigan’s most-populated township, Clinton, accounts for 73% of the court’s 151,000 caseload, while Harrison Township makes up 24% of the docket and Mount Clemens constitutes 13%

Chief Judge Sebastian Lucido recently went before the Clinton Township Board of Trustees to present the 2025 budget of $4.4 million and sobering news on the court’s finances, which were once flush with cash but have been dropping steadily since the start of the COVID-19 crisis.

“We are at the mercy of the police department,” the judge told board members. “We can only process the cases they give us.”

Lucido said court officials “didn’t anticipate the dockets dropping the way that they have,” along with a decline in corresponding court-issued court fines and costs, which makes up a large portion of the facility’s budget.

A report shows the court’s Clinton Township’s annual caseload has fallen from 39,300 in 2019 to 28,000 in 2023 — a 28% decrease.

When the court building was built, the three communities agreed to create a $1 million building reserve fund — the so-called rainy day find — but contributions have also dropped in the past few years. The fund is now at $367,500.

Officials say the intent of the fund is to have enough cash on hand to address unexpected costs or emergency repairs.

Clinton Township’s new supervisor Paul Gieleghem said he doesn’t think the emergency fund needs to be as high as $1 million. He said officials would calculate a new figure going forward.

New sources of revenue are needed, officials said. The Clinton Township Police Department can’t be counted on to begin increasing road patrols to generate ticket revenue as officers are busy enough handling routine police calls, according to officials.“I don’t want our residents to get tickets to pay for it,” said outgoing Supervisor Bob Cannon, whose term ends Nov. 19.

Court officials say they have reduced nine positions from operations in recent years and raised fines in an effort to match revenues with expenses.

Trustee Dan Kress suggested creating a motor carrier unit, which would focus on inspections for “heavy haulers, scrappers and Amazon trucks illegally parked.”

“They could be out inspecting trucks for equipment failures, not harassing citizens,” Kress said.

Judge Lucido agreed, saying “we have a lot of people getting away with lots of stuff.”