Weathering the Economic Storm—The Challenges of Delivering Court Services
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Weathering the Economic Storm —The Challenges of Delivering Court Services Council of Chief Judges of the State Courts of Appeal Philadelphia, Pennsylvania October 28, 2009 Daniel J. Hall, Vice President National Center for State Courts 1
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Weathering the Economic Storm—The Challenges of Delivering Court Services. Council of Chief Judges of the State Courts of Appeal Philadelphia, Pennsylvania October 28, 2009. Daniel J. Hall, Vice President National Center for State Courts. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Transcript of Weathering the Economic Storm—The Challenges of Delivering Court Services
Weathering the Economic Storm—The Challenges of Delivering
Court Services
Council of Chief Judges of the State Courts of AppealPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaOctober 28, 2009
Daniel J. Hall, Vice PresidentNational Center for State Courts
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Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, October 20, 2009
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Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, October 20, 2009
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How will the federal stimulus package affect court budgets?
Source: COSCA Budget Survey June 12, 2009 4
Source: COSCA Budget Survey June 12, 2009 5
Source: COSCA Budget Survey September 16, 2009 6
What Are the Options for Courts?
• Cut Spending
• Increase Revenue
• Enhance Efficiencies
See handout of state court actions as of September 16, 2009
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Actions Taken by State Court Systems to Reduce Expenditures - 2003 Survey
% of StatesPersonnel Actions: Hiring
Freeze or delay in hiring 84Layoffs: temporary employees 31Layoffs: contract employees 31Deny requests for additional judicial officers 28Layoffs: permanent employees 22
Personnel Actions: Pay and Benefits Withhold cost of living pay increases 34Withhold scheduled pay raises 31Withhold promotions 28Increase employee share of health 28care contribution
Travel and Training Restrict out-of-state travel 75Restrict in-state travel 63Reduce training 56
General Spending Reduce capital expenditures 72Reduce funds for professional memberships 41Delay technology improvements 38Delay court projects/studies 34Delay/cancel facility projects 13
Reduction in Specialty Services Cut funding to specialty courts 31Reduce maintenance services 25Reduce security services 13Eliminate specialty courts 6
Spending Cuts Used During the Last Recession
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Raise Fees and Fines
To What Extent can Fees and Fines be Raised to Generate
Funds to Pay for Judicial Responsibilities?
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Definitions
General Funds: legislature appropriates money from the general fund (from taxes, fees and fines, etc.) to pay for judicial operations.
Cash Funds—revenues from fees and fines are committed by statute for a specific purpose (technology, court security, or general use to cover core judicial operations) and appropriated by the legislature.
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States Responding
Authorized to Fund Judicial
Responsibilities
Dedicated to Special
Funds
Dedicated to General Court
Operations
N=29 24 23 16
Percentage 83% 96% 55%
Source: COSCA Survey, May 2007
How Do State Courts Use Cash Funds?
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Common Cash Fund Designations in 24 States
Dedicated Cash Fund Number of States
Technology 17
Court Security 5
Innovation 4
Education 3
Building Construction 3
Alternative Dispute Resolution
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Judicial Performance 2 12
State Court Use of Cash Funds
Category Examples
Courts with Significant Cash Funds (for both dedicated and general use)
California, Colorado, Nevada, Washington
Courts with Dedicated Cash Funds Only
Arizona, Nebraska, Georgia, Montana, South Dakota
Courts with Little Cash Funding
Delaware, Wisconsin, Virginia
Courts with No Cash Funds
Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode Island,
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How Are Appellate Courts Affected (2009)?
• COLRS:– 11 face decreases; 17 increases;
2 no change
• IACs– 2009: 11 face decreases; 27
had increases and 6 had no change
• 2010 break even
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The Silver Lining
• Courts are being significantly shielded from the worst of the budget impacts in most states.
• Federal stimulus will lessen reduction in court budgets—for now
• “Never waste a good crisis”• CJ Broderick, New Hampshire
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State Courts Actively Looking at Reengineering Their Services
• Alabama• Florida• Minnesota • New Hampshire• Iowa• Nebraska• Rhode Island• Utah• Vermont
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Budgets will be bad for years to come Structural deficits in state budgets Demographic shifts (fewer
workers, more retirees)
Rising health, education and transportation costs
Fees and fines cannot be significantly increased (list)
Mandated services are not necessarily the most important services
Business as usual will result in reduced services
Summary
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NCSC Online Budget Resource Center
http://www.ncsconline.org/WC/Budget/home.asp
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