Joan Despres’ table at the weekly St. Stephen market is busy, but she’s not offering crafts or baked goods.

Instead, she’s trying to save the town’s courthouse.

“And it’s just one more thing we’re losing, and our courtroom is monumental,” she says. “It’s the backbone of our community.”

The St. Stephen courthouse is one of four identified in the provincial budget to close as a cost cutting measure.

The plan is for courtroom operations in Grand Falls to move to Edmundston. Courtroom operations in Grand Manan, St. Stephen and Saint John will move to the Saint John law courts. 

Despres was a victim services co-ordinator in the St. Stephen courthouse for 25 years. She says victims of crime stand to lose the most from the closures.

“A lot of victims of crime do not have cars,” she says. “Nor do they have the means to get to Saint John, nor the finances to get to Saint John.”

David Bartlett is a St. Andrews lawyer and member of the Charlotte County Barristers Society. The group has hired its own lawyer who has already sent a letter to the province, which they say is the first step for what may become a court challenge to save the court.

“They don’t respond to the criticism, so I guess we need a judge to tell us whether it makes sense or not,” says Bartlett.

Communities in Charlotte County have already pledged close to $10,000 for a possible legal case.

Bartlett says any savings in closing the courts will be lost with the RCMP officers travelling back and forth. 

“It will in due course come back to province to pay for these policing charges,” he says. “So the province has not properly accounted for these savings at all from what we see.”

The St. Stephen courthouse is set to close at the end of October.