The following is the text of Lafayette attorney and Chapter 13 trustee, David Rosenthal’s letter to a number of area elected officials opposing and urging opposition of the potential closure of the federal building in Lafayette which is the seat of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, Hammond Division at Lafayette as well as the United States Bankruptcy Court in Lafayette Indiana.
I am the Trustee in the US Bankruptcy Court in Lafayette IN and was advised the Lafayette Federal Building may be closed. This possible closure comes after a recent renovation of the building to accommodate the US Bankruptcy Court which in 2005 served approximately 8,000 citizens and their dependants from Tippecanoe, Carroll, White, Benton, Jasper, Warren and Newton Counties which combined has a population of over 300,000. Besides the Bankruptcy Court, the Federal Building also serves the needs of the area in matters of civil and criminal litigation in the US District Court, the Post Office, the US Probation Department and the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Access to federal services for the area is provided by the beautiful and renovated Federal Building which is a vital and important symbol of America and represents the services provided by our federal government. If the Federal Building is closed, the nearest Federal Building is in Hammond or South Bend, both 2 hours from Lafayette. Besides the importance of the Federal Building set forth above, the difficulty of traveling to either city would be a severe impediment to our citizen’s access to the federal justice system and governmental services now readily available in Lafayette IN.
As importantly, the Federal Building is an architectural gem both externally and internally and as situated in downtown Lafayette is critical to the civic vitality of the area served. lafayette and its surrounding counties has a unique population, a mixture of rural and urban well served by its Federal Building. To require the population to travel to a Federal Building in distant cities, many of the citizens have never traveled to or know, would cause considerable anxiety and discomfort. Further, the Federal Building was beautifully renovated in 2003 at a considerable expense to the Federal Government and which renovation furthers the efficient use of internal space.
To consider closure of our Federal Building is an affront to the citizens of Lafayette and its surrounding counties. Rather than close the Federal Building, the area serviced should be expanded to include Clinton, Montgomery, Fountain, Cass, and Pulaski County, all with similar population characteristics and who travel to Lafayette for work, professional services, cultural and entertainment activities, educational programs at Purdue University and shopping. Lafayette is the center of the 11 counties, NOT Hammond or South Bend.
As stated above, I request that you oppose the closure of the Charles Halleck Federal Building at 300 Ferry Street, Lafayette IN and consider expansion of the population it serves.
In addition to being sent to the Tippecanoe County Bar Association, the letter was distributed to Lafayette Mayor Tony Roswarski, West Lafayette Mayor Jan Mills, Senators Lugar and Bayh, U.S. Representative Steve Buyer, State Representatives Sheila Klinker and Tim Brown, State Senators Ron Alting and Brandt Hershman, and Governor Daniels.
Doug, Doug, Doug,
Now that the credit card companies have made it next to impossible to file for bankruptcy, who needs so many bankruptcy courts :)
Ahh, therein lies the game! It’s not too difficult to file bankruptcy — it’s just much, much tougher to complete a bankruptcy since you’re more likely to have to go through an extended Chapter 13 process instead ofa relatively brief Chapter 7 process. So there’s more work than ever before — just less bankruptcy relief.