Woodinville will join several other cities on the Eastside in having its court services handled through the Kirkland Justice Center under a new interlocal agreement approved by the City Council at their June 16 meeting.

Woodinville currently contracts with the King County District Court but the term is set to expire at the end of 2016. Court services will begin in Kirkland in 2017. The agreement will last five years and be automatically renewed.

Based on stats from 2013-2014, Woodinville had an annual caseload of around 1,000 cases, 750-888 infractions and 180-190 criminal misdemeanor cases.

Under the interlocal agreement, Kirkland is expected to receive a net new revenue of $70,000, though it will be less in the first year due to discrepancies in case filing and collection of fines and fees. Kirkland will pay for all jury fees for Woodinville, along with language interpretation services, while Woodinville will be responsible for providing prosecution services. Woodinville would also appoint the current Kirkland Municipal Court judge to preside over its own court.

The cities currently share the same contracted prosecutor with Kirkland-based law firm Moberly and Roberts.

Medina, Clyde Hill, Hunt’s Point and Yarrow Point already contract with Kirkland for court services at the Justice Center, located at 11750 NE 118th St. in the Totem Lake Neighborhood.

The Kirkland Justice Center includes two large courts and one smaller court. Overall, the layout of the building is designed so that suspects can be processed and detained in two-hour holding cells, held in a jail cell for misdemeanors, interrogated and brought to court under the same roof. The building was formerly a Costco Home store, then later a My Home Wholesale. When the lease ended, the city purchased it from the owners and began remodeling it last year.