Cochise County judges ask supervisors for 6% budget boost to fund call center, probation pay and digital evidence upgrades

Presiding Judge David Thorne told the Cochise County Board of Supervisors at a work session that the court is asking the county for a roughly 6% general-fund increase largely to pay staff more competitively and to fund modernization projects including a judicial call center, a customer ticketing system and a digital evidence portal.

Thorne, who opened the presentation to supervisors Supervisor Gomez, Vice Chairman Crosby and Chairman Antinori, said the courts will prioritize staffing the clerk's office and probation ahead of public-facing web upgrades. "There is no minimum amount the county is required to provide for the administration of the courts," he said, citing the Arizona Constitution’s vesting of administrative supervision in presiding judges. He added that the courts must also seek state and federal funding where available.

Why it matters: Cochise County court officials said heavy caseloads, understaffing and aging technology are harming access to justice in the rural county. Thorne said probation officers in Cochise County typically must manage caseloads at or above the statutory standard — "at least 65 probationers" per standard adult probation officer — and that pay for county probation staff is about "17% below the market rate" for comparable positions in the state, which hampers recruitment and retention.

Key budget requests and rationale

- Judicial call center: Thorne said the courts receive roughly 95,000 phone calls across the superior court clerk's office, justice courts and court administration, and proposed a central call center so the public can call one number for information across court locations. He said Pima County offered to share…