Minnesota courts ask Legislature for funding to close staffing, access and technology gaps

Jeff Shorba, Minnesota’s state court administrator, told the House Judiciary, Finance and Civil Law Committee that the judicial branch is seeking new funding to address staffing shortages, rising costs for court-mandated services and technology upgrades. The branch’s 2026–27 request includes multi-year and one-time asks to raise staff and judge compensation, meet new federal digital-accessibility rules, bolster cybersecurity and expand pay for contract forensic examiners and jurors.

Shorba said the courts handle roughly 1,000,000 cases filed each year across 103 court locations and described the 2026–27 request as necessary to “fulfill our constitutional obligation. Justice delayed is justice denied.” He told the committee the judicial branch’s current fiscal-year 2025 budget is about $479,000,000 and that the branch is funded almost entirely through legislative appropriation.

The largest personnel-related request calls for $77,300,000 in fiscal 2026–27 (and $104,000,000 in 2028–29) to address a pay gap identified in a market study and to fund employer share of health-care cost increases and rising lease costs. Shorba cited rising employee turnover and declining applicant pools as drivers of the proposal.

On digit…