This week, Langley hired itself a new prosecutor, Greg Banks.

Banks, who is already Island County’s prosecutor, will take on Langley’s small prosecutorial workload starting immediately. The Board of Island County Commissioners made the transition of legal power official Wednesday when commissioners signed two interlocal agreements between the county and Langley for Banks’ services and to move the city’s municipal court to Oak Harbor.

The move to incorporate Langley’s municipal court into Island County District Court has been in the works for months, according to Langley Mayor Neil Colburn.

“We’re not going to be holding court in City Hall anymore,” Colburn said in an interview this week.

In order to make the municipal court move, the city had to gain approval from the Island County Justice Court Districting Committee, which then had to recommend the move to the Board of Island County Commissioners.

The decision was not a tough one for the districting committee, according to Colburn. He said the committee’s members decided in minutes to approve the change in mid-March.

Handling Langley’s cases in the district court in Oak Harbor will be an efficient way to handle the city’s small amount of misdemeanor cases, according to Langley’s attorney Dale Roundy.

Both Coupeville and Oak Harbor already operate their courts under the same sort of interlocal agreement. With similar amounts of misdemeanor cases, Langley and Coupeville are estimated to each take up approximately 2 percent of the district court’s time. The district court devotes 29 percent of its time to Oak Harbor cases.

All three cities are required to pay the costs associated with operating their portion of the district court.

From now on, Langley’s municipal court will be held the third Wednesday of every month. For minor cases, some contests could be made by mail or e-mail to avoid the inconvenience of holding the case in Oak Harbor. The city’s first court date in Oak Harbor is April 21.

The second interlocal agreement signed at the meeting named Langley resident and Island County Prosecutor Greg Banks as the prosecuting attorney for the city of Langley.

The position had been held by Langley’s former attorney and administrator Lynn Hicks, who left her position with the city Dec. 31. The city’s prosecuting job is estimated to require eight to 10 hours a month of time, and will cost the city $167 per case. The city sees about 25 criminal cases and 150 civil and traffic cases annually.

Misdemeanors and gross misdemeanors committed within Langley’s city limits will be prosecuted by Banks. As an added benefit, Banks said, the switch should promote consistency in prosecution standards across the county.

According to Colburn, there will be small changes in personnel in City Hall as a result of the interlocal agreements. Langley lawyer Carolyn Cliff, who had contracted as Langley’s municipal court judge since January 2002, will have her position eliminated.

City employee Nancy Gastony, who had previously been Langley’s court clerk part time, will have her duties shifted slightly, according to Colburn.