Budgetary threat cited to Missouri's judiciary

LAWYERS' PLEA

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By Mike Wells ~ Southeast Missourian

Along with a meal of cold cuts, potato salad and cookies, members of the Missouri Bar Association shared a message with local news organizations Friday afternoon: more budget cuts to the court system mean less justice for all Missourians.

Association president Bill Corrigan Jr. of St. Louis said the state judiciary took a $10 million cut over the last two years and warned that further cuts would be detrimental.

"Another 10 percent cut means a layoff of 500 people," he said. "There is going to be a reduction of services in this state with another cut."

Twenty-two percent of nonstatutory positions in clerks' offices and juvenile offices would be eliminated, he said.

Though the bar association hasn't suggested any alternative cuts or revenue options to the Missouri Legislature, Corrigan is hoping the media will editorialize against further cuts to the courts system.

Personnel costs account for 91 percent of the court system's budget. Of the 3,238 employees in the state judiciary, 2,582 positions are not created by statute. Further cuts would jeopardize juvenile court jobs and those of local circuit court staffs, which account for 1,742 positions.

The judiciary takes up less of the state's general revenue than it has in the past. In 1985, the court budget represented 2.09 percent of the pie. Today, it takes up 1.66 percent, or $137,546,486.

To compare, the legislature is allocated 0.46 percent, or $31,255,219. The offices of the state's top elected officials -- the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, treasurer, auditor and attorney general -- are allocated 0.61 percent, or $41,849,145.

Everything outside the judiciary and the legislature, including the elected officials from above and all state departments and programs, consumes 97.5 percent -- more than $6.6 billion -- of the state's total $6,786,329,532 general revenue.

Recent cuts have eliminated 92 positions from local circuit courts and $7 million meant for court record automation.

"There's just no fat to cut out of the judiciary budget," Corrigan said.

There were 879,000 cases filed in Missouri's courts in 2003, touching the lives of 33 to 50 percent of all residents, he said. Adoptions, divorces, personal injury and other civil suits could be significantly delayed for the sake of keeping up with criminal cases.

Caseloads have jumped 35 percent in the last 20 years, he said. If traffic cases were excluded, that increase would actually be 59 percent.

Missouri Supreme Court Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. and 32nd Circuit Court District Presiding Judge William Syler also attended the luncheon. Both expressed dismay at the possibility of more cuts.

Limbaugh said an improvement in the economy "will help tremendously," but he wasn't sure if Gov. Bob Holden's proposal for higher cigarette and gambling taxes would bring about enough revenue to make a difference in the state's budget woes.

Syler, whose district includes Cape Girardeau, Bollinger and Perry counties, said offices such as the Department of Health and Senior Services have staff sizes that dwarf the judiciary's and might be able to absorb cuts easier.

"They have three times the number of employees we do," he said. "We're a branch of the government -- they're a department of the government."

mwells@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160