The police and legal communities in Otago and Southland are set to benefit from a new prosecutor being based at Queenstown, serving the Alexandra and Queenstown district courts.
Sergeant Ian Collin has moved to Queenstown from Auckland and will start work at the resort's court on Monday.
He will be the first prosecutor solely dedicated to the two courts, which have otherwise been served by rostered prosecutors from Dunedin and Invercargill.
Sgt Collin's presence will allow other prosecutors to spend more time on files, increasing efficiency and effectiveness throughout the New Zealand Police Southern District, acting district prosecutions manager Amelia Steel said.
Acting Snr Sgt Steel, of Dunedin, said having a prosecutor based at the Queenstown police station meant lawyers, probation service staff, and police in the Central Otago and Queenstown Lakes districts would have certainty about who dealt with files.
"It's going to provide better service for the legal fraternity and community in general, because they'll know who to speak to in relation to files, whereas previously the prosecutor would change regularly.
"It will also provide police greater consistency of service and again allows them to know who to speak to about their files," she said.
Acting Snr Sgt Steel said prosecutors based at Dunedin and Invercargill - serving courts in the cities as well as those in Balclutha, Oamaru and Gore - would also be able to better focus on files from those areas.
"We are going to see increased efficiency and effectiveness in all the courts. There will be more time available to concentrate on the work generated in those areas, and both the Dunedin and Invercargill stations will benefit from a reduction in volume [of files]," she said.
The Alexandra court sat three or four days each month, and the Queenstown court about double that, Acting Snr Sgt Steel said.
Since July 1999, when the police established an independent prosecutions department, the Alexandra court had been served by six rostered Dunedin prosecutors, while four from Invercargill served the Queenstown court.
A fifth Invercargill prosecutor primarily served Queenstown.
Police advertised the position for a new prosecutor about a year ago.
Sgt Collin, originally from the United Kingdom, spent about 10 years policing there before moving to New Zealand.
He was a qualified police detective before becoming a prosecutor, and will be joined at the Queenstown station by a newly appointed prosecutions support officer.
Central Otago sub area commander Senior Sergeant Jill Woods said officers were looking forward to working with Sgt Collin in his capacity as a prosecutor dedicated to the area.
"While the service from Dunedin has been excellent, it will be great to have that different approach, and more accessibility and consistency for the staff. It will be a real benefit," she said.
Laying down the law
Police Southern District prosecutions staff:
Dunedin: 1 acting district prosecutions manager, 6 prosecutors, 2 prosecutions support officers, 2 electronic monitoring bail assessors.
Invercargill: 5 prosecutors, 1 prosecutions support officer, 1 electronic monitoring bail assessor.
Queenstown: 1 prosecutor, 1 prosecutions support officer.
