Three weeks ago, the crisis in Baltimore's courts put Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend in the real estate business -- scouring downtown for temporary courtrooms so cases could be heard outside the filled-to-the-rim courthouse.

But yesterday, she stopped looking: Court officials found space within their own buildings.

Joseph H. H. Kaplan, administrative judge of Baltimore Circuit Court, said the prospect of transporting jurors, files and clerks to conference rooms in state office buildings on West Preston Street made him look in every corner of his courthouses.

He decided to put a renovation project on hold and move people around so retired judges could hear cases.

Two courtrooms are currently available, and a third should be completed by next month.

"It just came to me with the thought of going to 301 W. Preston St. and what dislocation that would do to the system and what an inconvenience it would be to the people," Kaplan said yesterday. "We just had to come up with a better mousetrap.

He added, "It's easier to move judges around than move whole flops of people around."

Baltimore's courts are so backlogged that serious criminal charges have been dismissed because of trial delays and other procedural missteps -- prompting a crisis that has drawn the attention of top state officials.

Kaplan's enthusiasm for his newfound niches was not matched by some who had been working feverishly on the project since last month. Some were clearly miffed, saying the courthouse space should have been identified months ago.

Since deciding to intervene, state officials had been sizing up office space, talking to private building owners and even pricing transportation.

"All it took was push coming to shove within the building. That's clearly the case," said one official working on the plan who asked not to be identified. "It wasn't something that shouldn't have occurred to them weeks ago or months ago."

A memo from Townsend to members of the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council yesterday was more gently worded:

"The Circuit Court has made courtroom and docket changes that create the equivalent of three or four courtrooms inside the courthouse, eliminating the need to create temporary courtrooms outside the existing facility," the memo reads.

"This creativity and flexibility is another encouraging signal that the Judiciary and other system actors are doing what needs to be done to minimize the chance that any more cases will be dismissed due to speedy trial deadlines," it says.

Townsend and Gov. Parris N. Glendening will put $1.5 million toward building three permanent courtrooms in "Courthouse East" on North Calvert Street.

Kaplan has lobbied for two years for $3 million to build those courtrooms. Yesterday, he said he always preferred that the governor's funds go to permanent courtrooms.

"The problem is I don't think anybody was listening to anybody else," Kaplan said. "I appreciate that help, but on this issue I thought do it once and do it within the building."

Kaplan has halted the renovation of a grand jury room so that a judge hearing civil matters can use a room that would have housed the grand jurors during the renovation.

A retired judge will use that judge's courtroom for criminal jury trials.

Another judge's courtroom will be shared with a retired judge, who will preside over jury trials while the permanent judge is in domestic court.

Slated for completion early next month is a new courtroom, which will free more space for a retired judge.

Kaplan is also offering his courtroom to a retired judge, who will hear a 15-defendant case that is expected to take a month.

In January, retired judges were asked to hear old cases -- some with double-digit postponements -- but they were often bounced from one courtroom to another during a trial.

One judge was moved about five times during one case, Kaplan said.

Pub Date: 3/06/99