The Supreme Court of British Columbia is cautioning that some accused individuals could be released from custody during trials due to staffing and space shortages in Northeast B.C. facilities.
Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes explained that cases might face delays, be relocated, or lead to releases if the accused are held too far from the courthouse and daily transport isn’t practical.
Many accused are currently housed at the Prince George Regional Correctional Centre while standing trial in Dawson Creek, Fort Nelson, or Fort St. John.
In the past, local RCMP detachments and other police agencies sometimes kept accused individuals in custody at local facilities during trials.
That changed last year when police could no longer provide enough staff or space to hold people during court proceedings.
Some smaller courthouses also don’t have secure facilities for housing accused individuals during trials. Sheriffs have been doing their best to manage, sometimes even arranging daily chartered flights to transport accused individuals from pretrial facilities to the courthouse.
Holmes says the provincial government and police services are working on a fix, but there’s no clear timeline for a long‑term solution. As a result, some criminal trials in affected communities may have to be moved, rescheduled, or see accused individuals released if proper arrangements can’t be made.
Impacted communities include Dawson Creek, Fort Nelson, Fort St. John, Cranbrook, Powell River, Prince Rupert, Revelstoke, Rossland, Smithers, Terrace, and Williams Lake.
-With files from The Canadian Press
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