The Kenosha County Legislative Committee unanimously approved a resolution May 30 urging Gov. Evers and the Wisconsin Legislature to support state budget changes aimed at increasing state support for county court costs.

The resolution, drafted in coordination with statewide groups, asks the state to address a multi-year trend in which counties have borne a rising share of court-related expenses. The clerk of courts told the committee the Wisconsin clerks of courts association has been lobbying legislators “for the last 8 years” to correct a funding imbalance that has moved well past the intended 50/50 split.

According to the clerk of courts, the funding relationship between state and county court support has “graduated to an 80/20” split in practice, leaving counties to cover items including staffing and office expenses, interpreters and appointed/advocate counsel. The clerk said judges and court reporters are paid by the state, while many other operating costs remain local. The clerk also told the committee that Gov. Evers included a $70,000,000 allocation in his proposed state budget to increase court funding, but that amount “still doesn’t bring us to 50/50.”

Committee members asked for clarification about what county-funded items the money covers. The clerk listed staffing, guardians ad litem, interpreters, appointed/advocate counsel, office supplies and similar operating costs. The clerk said allocations would be distributed through the director of the state clerk’s office under a formula tied to the number of judicial branches in each county.

The committee chair moved to approve the resolution; it was seconded and passed unanimously. Committee members and the clerk described the resolution as a statewide, coordinated request drafted to keep counties aligned in the 2021 state budget process; the clerk said roughly 30 other county boards had already passed similar resolutions.

The committee did not attach spending mandates or caveats to the state allocation in the text presented; the clerk characterized the proposed funds as part of general court-support dollars distributed by formula rather than as money with specific local conditions.

The resolution will be forwarded for consideration and signature per the committee’s procedures.