Weyburn's historical landmark courthouse, originally slated for closure in the recent provincial budget, received a reprieve from cabinet and will remain open with all services.

The decision pleased Mayor Don Schlosser, whose delegation was credited for providing much of the information on which the reversal decision was based.

"I felt he was really listening to us," said Schlosser, referring to Justice Minister Chris Axworthy. "He was open-minded and listened to all the concerns as far as the community, the residents, police, lawyers and you name it, all having to go to Regina or Estevan for court services."

The mayor said his presentation was done "in a diplomatic way."

There were a number of factors to the decision to reverse the closure order for the end of August, said Justice Minister Chris Axworthy, but the primary one was the detailed representation from the delegation led by Schlosser on April 10.

"They presented a very strong argument why the courthouse should remain open. They talked about the importance of the court, and the services provided there," said the minister during his visit with Premier Roy Romanow at the NDP Spring Banquet in Weyburn, Thursday evening.

The full impact on the community was clearly communicated to him by other delegation members, including police Chief Bill Millar, city commissioner Bob Smith and city lawyer Kim Thorson, representing the South East Bar Association.

"They talked about the impact on individuals, that they would have to spend more money to obtain court services, and the lawyers' fees would have to reflect that. The city and police service were also concerned they would incur more costs as a result of the closure," said Axworthy.

The reversal decision didn't really surprise local lawyer Greg Bobbitt, who said the efforts of Schlosser and company should be well appreciated by the citizens of the community, along with the efforts of the legal community and MLA Brenda Bakken.

"A lot of concerned people had reasonable arguments why the courthouse should not be closed, and I think the minister listened. Secondly, the statistics (of court usage) were improperly construed Third, I believe the government became aware of the importance of the courthouse as a focal point of justice and government presence in rural Saskatchewan," said Bobbitt.

If any further changes are needed, he said, it would be to address the heavy load in provincial court, which would be helped by a resident judge for the southeast area. He said Weyburn lawyers will continue to lobby for this, as "people have the right to have their matters dealt with in a timely manner."

The courthouse will continue to have sittings of Queen's Bench chambers and court, provide the full range of court services through the sheriff and registrar's office, and will have at least one day a week for provincial court sittings.

Axworthy said if more than one day a week is required for provincial court, this will be provided under the administration of the Chief Provincial Court Judge. He said the court will be served out Estevan and Regina for judges, but who the judges are will be determined by the Chief Judge.

The importance of the court building as the symbolic centre of the community, and the representation of justice to the City of Weyburn and area, was considered in the reversal, said Axworthy, who admitted all these factors were not really given consideration at budget time.

Premier Roy Romanow added his voice of tribute to the mayor's delegation, and said they acted with professionalism in dealing with the issue.

"A lot of people have taken credit for the reversal of the decision. Frankly I don't care who deserves the credit. I'm just glad of the result, which I know involved close communications with Mayor Schlosser, commissioner Smith, Chief Millar and my former colleague Kim Thorson. It's a good old-fashioned example of listening to the grassroots," said the premier, who noted even former MLA Judy Bradley had a part in using her contacts to help arrange the meeting for the mayor's group.

Earlier, the premier was given a copy of a Gordon Stairmand painting of the courthouse by Coun. Ray Hamm, and the premier promised to hang it up in his office as a reminder to future premiers not to close the facility.

Mayor Schlosser dropped by the NDP Spring Banquet to shake hands with the premier and with Axworthy, and to pass along his gratitude for their decision.

"We very much appreciated your professionalism in not politicizing this too much," Romanow told Schlosser in a brief conversation.

The justice minister originally said his department considered the courthouse facility to be underused, along with that of Assiniboia and Humboldt, and felt better use of taxpayers' dollars would be made by putting the dollars to run the courthouses elsewhere.

Axworthy said the court workers' union, the Saskatchewan Government Employees Union, provided good co-operation on the issue, and he had to obtain approval from the rest of cabinet and Romanow before proceeding to reverse the decision. He said the money that would have been saved with the closure will now have to be found elsewhere in the department.