Molly Bradbury, Park County clerk of district court, told the commission June 12 that technological changes and higher caseloads have reduced district court fee revenue and left the fund with a projected shortfall for FY2026.

Bradbury said the district court fund began FY2024 with a healthy cash balance but that expenditures consistently exceed revenues. She presented an FY2024 ending balance of about $52,950 and said current projections for the start of FY2026 show available cash closer to $14,000–$15,000 under different COLA scenarios; projected negative cash positions ranged from about $22,000 to $29,000 depending on COLA and pay requests.

Why it matters: the district court fund pays for court operational costs not borne by the general fund and shrinking fee revenue puts pressure on either the county’s shared mill levy or the general fund to cover core court functions.

Bradbury explained the revenue decline: after the county adopted an enterprise case management system in late 2020 and e‑filing six months later, attorneys could view and print filings themselves and therefore no longer paid copy fees. ‘‘When we went to that e file, attorneys didn't have to pay us for copies anymore,’’ Bradbury said, adding that the public portal launched in December 2022 further reduced search fees because the public can now run searches without staff assistance.

She also reviewed operating reductions she has made in recent years—cutting two positions since 2020, reducing professional services and travel—and said the largest pressure remains personnel costs. Bradbury told commissioners she has a wage increase request for her three remaining staff; the package in the budget documents showed an increase with benefits of about $11,455.51. She said personnel increases and other pay requests are routed through HR and brought to the commission later in the budget process.

Other clarifications: passport fee activity is handled separately from the county budget following a Montana Supreme Court decision, so passport receipts do not appear in the district court fund, Bradbury said. She also said caseloads have increased—mental‑health commitments rose from about eight to 17 since 2020 and juvenile cases have doubled or tripled—so staff workload has not decreased despite lower fee revenue.

Next steps: Bradbury asked the commission to consider larger revenue sources (mill levy) or transfers to cover the operating gap; formal wage requests will come through HR for commission action later in the budget cycle.