Judges urge council to fund a court administrative assistant to retain key staff

Judges at the Delaware County justice center asked the County Council to approve a new 32.5-hour administrative assistant position to support long-serving court administrator Emily Anderson.

Judge Judy Calhoun, Delaware Circuit Court 1, said Anderson's workload is unsustainable and that the courts risk losing her without extra support. "She cannot possibly continue the workload that she has done without an assistant," Calhoun said, adding that losing her would force the courts to seek substantially more staff later.

Why it matters: court administrators perform centralized tasks for multiple judges and court divisions; the judges argued that losing an experienced administrator would reduce efficiency across the justice center and likely increase replacement costs.

Budget specifics and rationale: court staff proposed a 32.5-hour administrative assistant at an annual salary shown in the budget materials as about $41,060. That position would split duties currently handled by Anderson, including jury administration and claims processing. The judges said that Anderson's current role already supports all judges and that recruiting a replacement could require hiring multiple staff.

Council reaction and next steps: council members discussed whether to keep or remove a proposed new position during the broader salary conversation. No formal vote was taken; staff said the county will reconcile salary assumptions (including whether to apply a proposed overall 4% cost-of-living increase) and reflect the council's direction in final budget documents.

Ending: Judges framed the request as retention and risk mitigation: an upfront personnel expense, they said, could avoid higher long-term costs if a well-trained administrator departs.