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Colorado Judicial Branch

Mary J. Mullarkey, Chief Justice

Gerald Marroney, State Court Administrator

Nov. 12, 2002

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Judges pitch-in for 2002 Annual Judicial Conference to help offset branch’s budget crunch

DENVER – Judges from across the state are showing their personal support for the Colorado Judicial Branch’s current broad based cost-cutting measures by footing expenses for the 2002 Annual Judicial Conference held in September. The conference, mandated by state statute, had its budget vetoed by the Governor in late May, which left the Branch scrambling to find funding. Many of the justices and judges have taken it upon themselves to pitch-in.

Chief Justice Mary Mullarkey, as executive head of the judicial system, has been taking measures to address declining revenue projections since Aug. 22, 2002, when she sought the Joint Budget Committee’s guidance on what reduction percentage she should be targeting to address the state’s declining revenue projections. At that time, the Joint Budget Committee suggested cutting 4 percent from her overall budget.

“Our budget is about 85 percent personnel services thus any cut has a direct impact on our employees,” says Mullarkey. “By freezing vacancies and requiring three unpaid days of leave, we have reduced our expenditures by 4 percent without layoffs. Our employees are great, and have really responded well to the financial crisis.

“Unfortunately, case filings are rising about 5-6 percent at the same time that our workforce is declining by 10 percent,” continues Mullarkey. “This combination puts a terrible strain on the court system, and, despite the best efforts of our employees, I worry that the public will be hurt by delays and mistakes.”

Other budget reduction measures implemented by the Chief Justice on Aug. 23 included:

  All employees, classified and contract, magistrates, and grant and cash funded, being required to take one furlough leave day per month in October, November, and January. The Colorado Constitution, Article 6, Section 18, prohibits reduction of a judge or justice’s salary while in office thus the furlough does not apply to justices or judges.

  The Chief Judge in each Judicial District has been given the discretion to implement changes in his/her district to meet the district’s proportion of the budget shortfall. Clerk of Court Office hours have been shortened in some locations to allow staff uninterrupted time to work more efficiently to compensate for the understaffing to catch up on daily paperwork.

  A branch wide hiring freeze was implemented on Sept. 1, 2002.

By statute, the chief justice is charged with assembling the state’s judges at least once annually to discuss recommendations and conduct business to benefit the judiciary. She is to do so explicitly “at the expense of the state of Colorado.” In the Governor’s veto he noted, “This veto does not preclude the Judiciary from having a conference, as they may pay for such a conference out of other lines (General Fund line items) given the flexibility provided them by the headnote vetoes I have also made.”

To date, the judges have paid for 41 percent of the conference by picking up all or part of their own expenses to offset the cost to the Branch. The conference, which breaks down to an expense of $625/judge, has been funded through the judges personally picking up 41 percent ($245) in conjunction with 15 percent being secured from grants and other funding ($95) and 44 percent ($276) from General Fund monies. The judges’ contributions stand at $83, 600.

This year’s abridged conference, shortened by one day, included 63 programs and meetings designed for the professional development and education of the 271 judges and 58 magistrates in attendance.

One of the primary focuses of the Conference was addressing family issues coming before the courts. The 2003 Family Issues Conference was cancelled because of budgetary constraints, thus key family issues workshops were integrated into this year’s judicial conference agenda. Sessions included: child support, domestic violence treatment standards, family law update, juvenile aggression, restraining order practice challenges, family dynamics, pro se litigants, interstate compact on the placement of children, long distance parenting and removal issues, impact of trauma and sex offenders.

Editor’s note: Statute charging chief justice with assembling the state’s judges at least once annually: Section 13-3-102(2), 6A C.R.S. (2002)

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