On the occasion of the 92nd birthday of the National Park
Service a new Yellowstone Justice Center at Mammoth Hot Springs
will be dedicated Monday by the park service and the U.S.
Department of Justice.
The criminal justice system in the park has existed since
Yellowstone National Park was created by an act of Congress and
signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1872. Current U.S.
Magistrate Steve Cole is the fourth person to hold that judicial
post since it was established in 1894. Being a federal
jurisdiction, the full range of law enforcement falls to the
federal government.
National Park Service law enforcement personnel annually issue
3,000 citations or criminal complaints, make 250 arrests and
conduct 150 criminal investigations in Yellowstone. The U.S.
Magistrate Court annually handles about 600 court cases.
Since 1981, court proceedings have been held in a small,
picturesque, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers building, constructed in
1903. The new, two-story, $6.8 million building will provide new
courtroom facilities, judicial chambers for the magistrate, and
offices for court staff, the U.S. Attorney's Office, the U.S.
Marshals Service and National Park Service special agents and
rangers assigned to criminal investigations.
The dedication is scheduled for 10 to 11 a.m. Monday at the new
Yellowstone Justice Center, across the road from the post office
and Mammoth Clinic in Mammoth Hot Springs.
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