Court officials deeply concerned about proposed $9M budget cut
by Barbara L. Jones
Impact of governor’s recommended cut faced by courts
The $9 million cut to the court’s budget recently proposed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty would put the state at risk of failing to deliver constitutionally mandated services and have far-reaching collateral consequences, court officials warn.- Curtailing hours of service
- Closing low-volume courthouses
- Shutting down drug courts
- Cutting services to pro se litigants
- Reducing civil legal services
- Cutting calendars and delaying cases
Court officials and judges cautioned lawmakers last week that the cut would mean jobs would be lost, clerk’s offices and courtrooms would be closed and programs such as drug courts would be eliminated. They also warned that the delays in case processing that staff cuts would cause would affect the entire judicial system.
“The system will slow. When times get tough, courts get busy. This creates a crisis and there will be collateral consequences,” Chief Justice Russell Anderson told Minnesota Lawyer.
Four percent in FY 09
Under the governor’s plan to address a projected $935 million budget shortfall, most state agencies would receive a 4 percent cut to their operating budgets. The $9 million proposed cut to the court’s budget would represent 4 percent of the judicial branch’s FY 2009 budget (excluding judge salaries and mandated services spending). Mandated services are required by the state or federal constitution or state statutes and include interpreters, psychological services and jury costs, which have increased significantly over the last year.
The courts appeared to do reasonably well in the Legislature’s last round of budgeting. Last year, the Legislature awarded the courts more than $46 million in new funding for the biennium — representing an 8.3 percent increase in the court’s budget. (The amount was still $13 million less than the courts said they needed.)
Increased labor-related costs — including cost of living adjustments and health-insurance increases — took a big chunk of the remaining $20 million. (The 3.25 negotiated COLA was larger than anticipated.)
Meanwhile, the increasing costs of psychological services and interpreters have taxed the court system. The costs of jury trials have also shot up due to increases in the number of trials for felonies (9.6 percent) and gross misdemeanors/misdemeanors (6.8 percent).
Last February, before the budget cut proposal, the court requested $1.9 million in new money for the biennium to fund those mandated services.
The judicial branch also has tightened its belt. It has abolished or is holding unfilled approximately 207 jobs, representing about 7 percent of the total court staff. Some districts have implemented voluntary early separation incentives, with some employees being asked to take unpaid days off.
“We’re doing what agencies and school districts have done, which hold positions open or provide incentives for early retirement,” Anderson said.
In the 3rd, 4th and 10th Judicial Districts, the public counters are closed at least one half-day per week. In all courts fewer conciliation court hearings are being scheduled.
But with the increase in mandated services and labor costs, those cost-saving measures are insufficient in the face of decreased funding. If the governor’s recommendations are implemented, the court will have to cut about 222 jobs, or another 8 percent of its staff, bringing the total staff shortfall to 15 percent.
Most of the job loss would be at the trial-court level, where State Court Administrator Sue Dosal estimates 193 jobs would be lost. “That would be the equivalent of wiping out all the staff working on juvenile or major or minor civil or probate and parking or most family cases,” Dosal recently told lawmakers.
Additionally, some “low volume” court facilities in the suburbs and in greater Minnesota may be closed, Dosal warned.
The drug courts are also on the table. Closing the drug courts would save about $2 million per year, although it has been demonstrated that they save prison and jail beds and prevent recidivism. It is also possible that services to pro se litigants would be cut, affecting thousands of citizens in Hennepin County alone.
Justice delayed…
The immediate effect will be that cases will remain unheard and unresolved, which no one expects the public to accept happily.
“We project that the proposed cut, on top of our current staff shortage, could increase our case backlog by as much as 250,000 cases by the end of Fiscal Year 2010,” Dosal told lawmakers.
The Court of Appeals is already experiencing a backlog of cases and has taken some extraordinary steps to address it, according to Chief Judge Edward Toussaint Jr.
The court has increased the number of cases the panels are hearing every week and added one written opinion to every judge’s caseload per month. Those efforts have succeeded in reducing the court’s case backlog from about 745 cases last November to about 500 now, the chief judge said.
According to American Bar Association standards, the court should only have about 250 cases in its pipeline — a goal the court probably won’t achieve for another 18 months.
“If the Legislature does not fully fund our 2009 budget, for every staff person we lose, that will be about 35 cases per year that we can’t hear,” Toussaint said.
Court officials also expect the effect of delays and backlogs to permeate the court system and even in turn actually cost the state money. They predict delays throughout the criminal system including criminal case data entry and processing of warrants, which potentially leaves offenders on the streets.
They also warn that money judgments and child support wage withholding will be delayed and staff will be diverted from traffic and parking cases, which contribute about $200 million annually to the state’s general fund. Expenses for hospitalization, incarceration and juvenile out-of-home placement would be expected to increase as well.
Less for Legal Aid
The budget cuts also mean Legal Aid would lose about $516,000 in funding for next year, which means thousands of low-income clients will be without service, said Jeremy Lane, executive director of Mid-Minnesota Legal Services.
Lane said a reduction in Legal Aid services would cost the state money in the long run because the clients will appear in court pro se or will require other state services.
“We prevent homelessness. That saves millions of dollars a year in Minnesota,” Lane stated. “The irony is that Legal Aid budget cuts end up costing taxpayers and the clients are hurt. It’s really not a place to save money.”
