State Commission Hears Testimony on Probate Consolidation

New Canaan’s Probate Court Judge Russell Kimes, Jr. traveled to Hartford Thursday to let the commission in charge of consolidating 117 probate courts into 50 know that the decision “should be made by the town and its residents.”

His comments were echoed in one way or another by dozens of local officials and probate judges from across the state during the day-long hearing.

Kimes said since the population of New Canaan and Darien is about 20,000 each that it will satisfy the 40,000 minimum population requirement required by the consolidation. If the commission decided to bring New Canaan, Darien, Weston, and Westport together according to their plan it would create the 14th largest probate district in the state, he said.

Westport’s Probate Court Judge Kevin O’Grady said New Canaan and Darien should be considered a “community of interest,” meaning they hear the same kinds of cases over and over again. He said most of those cases involve estates, which are “the economic engine of this system.”

However, O’Grady said he wouldn’t mind if Wilton is added to Westport and Weston to create one probate district. He said the 13-member commission could also consider adding the town of Redding to the mix, or it could consider the combination of Wilton, Redding, New Canaan, and Darien.

He said the towns of New Canaan and Westport both have mental hospitals in their districts so they hear similar types of cases related to those facilities.

But in closing, O’Grady said he was also fine with the commission keeping the district the way they had proposed it.

The 13-member probate redistricting commission will have three weeks to decide what recommendations it will make to the General Assembly regarding the consolidation. The General Assembly will then call itself into special session to vote on a recommendation.

The commission will meet again 10 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 25 to begin its deliberations. 

Christine Stuart is the Editor of CTNewsJunkie.com.