Budget impact on local courts uncertain, says judge

Budget shortfall for courts is $13 million

By KURT NESBITT Journal Staff Writer
NEW ULM — Budget concerns may have caused county district courts in other parts of Minnesota to cut down on the amount of time their administrators spend at the service window, but at least one local official is uncertain of how courts’ $13 million budget shortfall and Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s proposed $9 million additional cut will effect local courts.

George Harrelson, Chief Judge of the Fifth Judicial District, which includes Brown, Nicollet, Redwood and Watonwan counties, said that over the last several years, the district hasn’t received needed funding, so officials have taken steps to reduce the cost.

The branch is looking at layoffs if the cut is adopted, Harrelson said.

Additionally, special courts could be closed, service hours could be curtailed, wait times could increase and slower processing of court records, such as warrants and judgements.

Those setbacks, could, in turn, translate into jail overcrowding and higher costs of pre-trial incarceration, higher out-of-home placement costs and delays of child protection cases and delays in child support payments.

Officials have done a lot things that Harrelson said are not visible. They are not filling open positions.

He said he’d have a better idea of how the proposed cut may affect local court services and what kinds of things can be done, should a cut materialize, after Fifth District officials meet on Wednesday.

The district has already seen early retirement incentives as well as combining county court administrators, leaving open positions unfilled and dropping programs, like tuition reimbursement.

At a Judicial Council meeting, officials talked about places that don’t have a sitting judge. He said there is a strong possibility that the chambers in Murray County may have to move to Lyon County, which may cost sheriffs more in terms of transportation costs.

“It’s hard to tell right now how it will affect the district until after the meeting (Wednesday),” Harrelson said.

The Fifth District is in the same boat as many others across the state, which is “a shade better than the metro-area counties.”

He notes that Florida is having a hard time with court costs and Maine is suspending jury trials

Harrelson said the issue is a problem that has been coming for a number of years “and with the economy leaning the way it is, it could really be a catastrophe.”

He admits that some of his concerns are premature.

“It will depend on the final acts of the governor and the Legislature,” he said.

The Associated Press reported last week that about a dozen Minnesota counties have reduced the number of hours they are available to help the public.

Counters in Hennepin County are closed Wednesday afternoons. Each of the 11 counties in the Third Judicial District has a morning when nobody is around to accept fines or get court files.