they report to work in April.

But Senior Magistrate William Francis will still be manning the bench in Court One, contrary to rumours that he will retire by the end of March when he turns 65.

"He's not going anywhere for a while,'' said Magistrates' Court administrative officer Tracey Kelly.

But Magistrates Edward King, Arthur Hodgson and Cheryl-Ann Mapp will rotate with the most significant swap being Mrs. Mapp's move to Court Four -- Family and Juvenile Court -- where she will replace Mr. Hodgson.

Magistrates moving Mr. Hodgson will fill the post vacated at Court Three by Mr. King who takes over Court Two.

Mr. Kelly said while the rotation -- which is set to kick in on April 7 -- was a little unusual, the present group of Magistrates had been static for a while.

Normally there were comings and goings through retirements and promotions that caused some movement but this had not occurred recently.

"I just imagine someone wanted a change,'' said Mr. Kelly. "This group of Magistrates has been here for a while and some of them might want a change of pace.'' He said there were differences between the types of cases the four courts handled.

Court One was primarily for first hearings in criminal and civil matters while Two and Three were trial courts for both types of matters.