Paying fines at Tucson City Court will become less convenient next month, as the city is ending its Saturday services on April 29.

The court is shuttering its 5-year-old Saturday service because court officials said it simply wasn't cost effective to staff the office on Saturdays, and instead said the public would be better served by adding those shifts to its weekday service.

Court Administrator Joan Harphant said the Saturday services allowed people only to make payments, file paperwork and get information. No court proceedings other than initial appearances are done on Saturday, Harphant said.

As a result, she said many customers came to the court on Saturday and then had to return during the workweek to get their cases heard. In addition, she said such services as paying fines and getting information can be done by mail or via the Internet.

In a memo to the City Council, Assistant City Manager Liz Miller said 762 people used the Saturday services last year, translating to only 18 people every Saturday, when the court is open from 8 a.m. to noon. It is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the week, when it draws about 1,500 customers daily, Harphant said.

"It's a handful compared to what we do during the week," Harphant said of the Saturday crowd.

Still, for Lisa Bendror, who was at City Court on Thursday to show proof of insurance, it will make it less convenient not to have even the limited court services on Saturday when she doesn't have to work or go to class at the University of Arizona.

"It would be more convenient to have it open on Saturdays because of the the wait time and because people have to work and go to school," Bendror said.

Harphant said the four employees can actually do more good augmenting the normal weekday staff to help deal with the heavy crowds than they could by working on Saturday.

In addition, she said the court will no longer be conducting initial appearances in person on Saturday at the court, and will instead do them by videoconference from the Pima County jail. Harphant said that will save the court the cost of providing security personnel on the weekends.