Supreme Court officials outline budget makeup, push technology and rural access priorities

Robert Horner, administrative director of the Supreme Court of Ohio, told the Senate Finance Committee that the largest portions of the court's budget are legally required. "As you may note, the largest portion of this budget, 54% of the budget, is compensation that is already statutorily required with respect to the payment of Ohio's judges," Horner said, adding that another 18% is for courts of appeals employees, bringing mandated spending to 72% of the court's overall request.

Horner and court staff emphasized three nonmandated priorities supported by the remainder of the budget: modernizing court technology, strengthening judiciary education and expanding access to legal services. He described the Ohio Courts Network (OCN) as a centralized data warehouse that connects courts statewide and noted that about 99% of Ohio courts…