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Courts could lay off 100 soon
By Maddie Hanna / Monitor staff
State House
Consolidation plans pushed up
With as many as 100 layoffs of court employees on the horizon, the judicial branch is moving forward more
quickly than it intended with plans to halve the managerial staff in the state's probate, district and family
courts, consolidating the three divisions into circuit courts by July 1. Judicial officials said that restructuring,
which doesn't involve closing any courts, would take years to accomplish when they announced their plans
in January. But state budget writers asked them to accelerate that process, and this week administrative
judges informed the clerks, deputy clerks and probate registers in the courts slated for consolidation that
all of them would need to apply for the new circuit court positions.
Of the 52 clerk-level positions in those courts, only 21 will remain come June 30 if the Legislature signs off
on the plan, said Judge Edwin Kelly, who oversees the state's family and district courts. He said the
number of deputy clerks will go from 60 to 28 in the restructuring. "As a manager, it's a very, very positive,
but very painful" process, Kelly said yesterday. Anticipating the plan will be approved by the full
Legislature, the judicial branch posted the circuit court positions online yesterday morning, and Kelly said
those interested in the jobs will have until Thursday to apply. Interviews will be conducted in April, and by
the first week of May, judicial officials will make their selections known, Kelly said.
But beyond those reductions, layoffs are coming across the entire judicial branch, which has about 530
employees. The number won't be finalized until the state budget is complete, but officials expect the layoffs
could hit as many as 100 employees, said courts spokeswoman Laura Kiernan. Kiernan said all court
employees received a memo this week from Chief Justice Linda Dalianis regarding the likely layoffs, which
judicial officials say will be necessary because of a budget shortfall. The House Finance Committee
recently decided to give the judicial branch an extra $2.9 million next year, bringing its overall
recommended appropriation to $77.4 million.
But while Dalianis said that money will stave off some layoffs, the committee intended much of it for
projects the branch proposed earlier this year, including the adoption of an e-court system. And it's still not
enough to bring the branch's budget up to what is needed to maintain the current level of operations -
without taking more unpaid furlough days, Kiernan said. She said judicial officials have committed to not
including furloughs in the upcoming budget, after courts across the state shut down for 12 days this year.
"The Supreme Court believes that it's not fair to continue to try to balance the state budget by closing the
courts to the public," Kiernan said. The furloughs also cut into the salaries of nearly every judge, marital
master and staff member, Kiernan said, "and no one else in state government paid that price." Rep.
William Belvin, the chairman of the House Finance subcommittee that deals with the judicial branch's
budget, said it was important to committee members that the courts stay open. "We wanted to see that
justice is kept close to the people," said Belvin, a Hillsborough Republican. Asked about the direction the
committee gave judicial officials, Belvin said legislators "encouraged them to be swift" with their plans to
create the circuit court system. "Any major systems effort - and that's what this is, a big change in process
- the longer it takes, the greater the risk you get intercepted by other issues that happen," Belvin said. He
said making the change all at once "reduces the uncertainty for personnel."
Kelly said the July 1 restructuring is expected to save more than $1 million. In contrast, he said the
branch's initial plan, which would have spread the process over six years or more, had been expected to
save $250,000 in the first year of restructuring. Legislators told judicial officials the greater savings were
needed now, Kelly said. While the judicial branch had wanted to reduce positions through attrition, "the
Legislature made it very clear to us early on in the session, the fiscal circumstances were such that they
wanted us to develop a plan that would throw the switch on day one," Kelly said. With the restructuring,
Kelly said the circuit court system will be in place July 1, although "that doesn't mean that the signs will be
on the doors and the letterhead will be changed," he said.
He called the consolidation "a massive administrative task" but said judicial employees were "working night,
day and weekends, and we've covered all the bases as best we can. We feel absolutely we'll be able to do
it." Kelly said the judicial budget situation is "not all bad news." Putting the circuit court system in place now
will make the judicial branch more efficient, he said, and changes are under way to streamline other court
operations, including through the creation of a centralized call center and an off-hours shift for staff to
process paperwork. Part-time positions will be created to fill that shift, Kelly said, and "we anticipate we will
be able to make up for some of the inevitable reductions."
By Maddie Hanna / Monitor staff
State House
Consolidation plans pushed up
With as many as 100 layoffs of court employees on the horizon, the judicial branch is moving forward more
quickly than it intended with plans to halve the managerial staff in the state's probate, district and family
courts, consolidating the three divisions into circuit courts by July 1. Judicial officials said that restructuring,
which doesn't involve closing any courts, would take years to accomplish when they announced their plans
in January. But state budget writers asked them to accelerate that process, and this week administrative
judges informed the clerks, deputy clerks and probate registers in the courts slated for consolidation that
all of them would need to apply for the new circuit court positions.
Of the 52 clerk-level positions in those courts, only 21 will remain come June 30 if the Legislature signs off
on the plan, said Judge Edwin Kelly, who oversees the state's family and district courts. He said the
number of deputy clerks will go from 60 to 28 in the restructuring. "As a manager, it's a very, very positive,
but very painful" process, Kelly said yesterday. Anticipating the plan will be approved by the full
Legislature, the judicial branch posted the circuit court positions online yesterday morning, and Kelly said
those interested in the jobs will have until Thursday to apply. Interviews will be conducted in April, and by
the first week of May, judicial officials will make their selections known, Kelly said.
But beyond those reductions, layoffs are coming across the entire judicial branch, which has about 530
employees. The number won't be finalized until the state budget is complete, but officials expect the layoffs
could hit as many as 100 employees, said courts spokeswoman Laura Kiernan. Kiernan said all court
employees received a memo this week from Chief Justice Linda Dalianis regarding the likely layoffs, which
judicial officials say will be necessary because of a budget shortfall. The House Finance Committee
recently decided to give the judicial branch an extra $2.9 million next year, bringing its overall
recommended appropriation to $77.4 million.
But while Dalianis said that money will stave off some layoffs, the committee intended much of it for
projects the branch proposed earlier this year, including the adoption of an e-court system. And it's still not
enough to bring the branch's budget up to what is needed to maintain the current level of operations -
without taking more unpaid furlough days, Kiernan said. She said judicial officials have committed to not
including furloughs in the upcoming budget, after courts across the state shut down for 12 days this year.
"The Supreme Court believes that it's not fair to continue to try to balance the state budget by closing the
courts to the public," Kiernan said. The furloughs also cut into the salaries of nearly every judge, marital
master and staff member, Kiernan said, "and no one else in state government paid that price." Rep.
William Belvin, the chairman of the House Finance subcommittee that deals with the judicial branch's
budget, said it was important to committee members that the courts stay open. "We wanted to see that
justice is kept close to the people," said Belvin, a Hillsborough Republican. Asked about the direction the
committee gave judicial officials, Belvin said legislators "encouraged them to be swift" with their plans to
create the circuit court system. "Any major systems effort - and that's what this is, a big change in process
- the longer it takes, the greater the risk you get intercepted by other issues that happen," Belvin said. He
said making the change all at once "reduces the uncertainty for personnel."
Kelly said the July 1 restructuring is expected to save more than $1 million. In contrast, he said the
branch's initial plan, which would have spread the process over six years or more, had been expected to
save $250,000 in the first year of restructuring. Legislators told judicial officials the greater savings were
needed now, Kelly said. While the judicial branch had wanted to reduce positions through attrition, "the
Legislature made it very clear to us early on in the session, the fiscal circumstances were such that they
wanted us to develop a plan that would throw the switch on day one," Kelly said. With the restructuring,
Kelly said the circuit court system will be in place July 1, although "that doesn't mean that the signs will be
on the doors and the letterhead will be changed," he said.
He called the consolidation "a massive administrative task" but said judicial employees were "working night,
day and weekends, and we've covered all the bases as best we can. We feel absolutely we'll be able to do
it." Kelly said the judicial budget situation is "not all bad news." Putting the circuit court system in place now
will make the judicial branch more efficient, he said, and changes are under way to streamline other court
operations, including through the creation of a centralized call center and an off-hours shift for staff to
process paperwork. Part-time positions will be created to fill that shift, Kelly said, and "we anticipate we will
be able to make up for some of the inevitable reductions."
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