Summit residents didn't vote to move the county seat from Coalville, as the law requires. But its mayor says the town of 1,500 is being systematically stripped of the offices that define that role.

"It's been financially devastating," said mayor Duane Schmidt.

One county office after another has moved to the greater Park City area. Even 3rd District Court, a state office, moved out. Traffic that used to support Coalville restaurants, grocery stores and gas stations has slowed to a trickle.

It's been a decade since 3rd District Court criminal and civil proceedings were moved to a new facility at Silver Summit, just east of Park City along U.S. Highway 40.

But last week, citing Utah law, Schmidt formally complained to State Court Administrator Dan Becker. Schmidt said state statutes require district courts to be located in county seats.

A court spokesman said Becker would soon schedule meetings with Schmidt and Summit County officials to discuss the issue.

When the court moved to Silver Summit, so did the sheriff's office and county jail. And just two months ago, the Summit County Health Department relocated near a new Park City hospital.

Other facilities, like the Public Works Department and the animal shelter, have also moved, the first to Hoytsville and the latter to closer to Kimball Junction.

But Schmidt, who came to Coalville from Baltimore in 2003 and has been mayor since 2006, said Utah law specifies that all county departments must be headquartered at the county seat.

Although west Summit County and the Park City area have seen boom-like growth during the past two decades, Coalville and the north Summit area have seen little, if any, expansion.

"You hear people say, 'Gee, we had to move the courts and the jail to Park City because that is where the crime is,'" Schmidt said. "But you don't see them building the landfill there, even though Park City produces most of the trash. I think it's arrogant."

Millions have been invested in county facilities in west Summit County, Schmidt said, while his town has seen little county investment. He lays blame with the Summit County Council, and its predecessor, the Summit County Commission.

Councilwoman Sally Elliott, a former commissioner, didn't disagree with the mayor, but said county officials have faced difficult decisions about making services available to all residents. "The County Council's philosophy is that we must serve people where they are," she said.

Relocating the sheriff's office and jail to west Summit County was advantageous economically and from a law enforcement standpoint, too, she said.

It was not the commission, however, that moved the court, according to Elliott. When state court officials wanted to move 3rd District Court, the then-County Commission objected. "We lost that fight," she said.

State Rep. Mel Brown, R-Coalville, said Schmidt is "absolutely right" there must be a 3rd District Court "presence" in Coalville. That's also true of county departments.

"Statutorily, all elected officers must maintain an office in the county seat," he said.

But he said it is unclear whether the court and county departments had to be headquartered there. A "presence" may be all that is required.

csmart@sltrib.com