Bourbon County judges tell commissioners state pays salaries but county must fund court operations

District court leaders told the Bourbon County commissioners on May 1 that state law requires counties to fund most court operations even though the state pays judges and other court employees' salaries. District Judge Sarah Stewart and court clerk Michelle Sharp outlined the court's 2026 request and explained why a modest budget increase is needed.

Under the statute cited during the briefing, "except for expenses required by law to be paid by the state, the state pays our salaries," the presenter said, then read a county obligation to "adequately fund the operation of the district court." The court representatives said the county pays most contractual services used in the court, including court-appointed attorneys in child-in-need-of-care cases, care-and-treatment proceedings, juvenile offender hearings and some misdemeanors where jail is possible.

Why it matters: Many of those appointed-attorney costs are mandatory under state law, the presenters said. The court…