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Saturday, November 12, 2005

Courts - Long back-and-forth over judicial funding in Milwaukee WIS between county executive and county courts

Can another branch of government slash the judiciary's funding or does that violate the separation of powers? What are the constraints on the various units of government?

The ILB has posted a number of entries on these and related issues as they play out in Indiana.

This 10/18/05 editorial in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel describes a similarly difficult situation in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. Some quotes:

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker's decision to slash staffing for the courts by 25% to keep his pledge for a 2006 tax freeze has touched off a battle with courts officials, one that could become very hot if judges decide to sue the County Board to get the money they need. It shouldn't have to come to that.

It's not too late for county supervisors and courts officials to work out some kind of compromise in which no jobs would be abolished and courts officials would at least get most of the money they are seeking, providing they agree to an efficiency study of the courts and they work hand in hand with the County Board and Walker to lobby for more state funding.

Make no mistake. Walker's cuts do indeed border on draconian, especially for a courts system that is already heavily backlogged because of growing caseloads. But even County Board members sympathetic to the arguments of Chief Judge Kitty Brennan and Clerk of Courts John Barrett are themselves bound by state property tax levy limits and public demand to freeze taxes. This means they probably will not be able to restore all of the funding for next year - $4.4 million - that courts officials want while also addressing the county's other needs.

This story, posted yesterday, 11/11/05, reports that matters remain unresolved. A quote:
On Friday, [Chief Judge] Brennan pledged to seek additional economies to close the budget gap but said it was doubtful she could find enough to avoid seeking a supplemental appropriation later in 2006.

Courts cannot control costs related to "constitutional and statutory requirements, labor contracts, retirement mandates, the need for adequate security in our courts and caseloads which could break the back of any functional system of courts," Brennan wrote in her response to Walker.

A promise now to live within the budget cuts could tie her hands in seeking supplemental funding and eventually "leave the court system in jeopardy," Brennan wrote.

A side-bar to this Journal Sentinel story provides links to more than a dozen earlier stories on the budget debate.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 12, 2005 07:18 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts