Utah Chief Justice warns budget cuts could cripple courts; proposes fee increases and furloughs

Chief Justice Christine Durham told a joint session of the Utah Legislature that steep state budget cuts threaten the judiciary’s ability to function and would require immediate personnel actions, including planned furloughs for court employees.

Durham said the Judicial Council has assumed a 7.5% mid‑year reduction and has drawn a plan that would furlough each of the roughly 1,000 court employees for 26 days before June 30, a measure she said "will mean that our employees, of course, will experience a 20% reduction in pay in every paycheck." She told lawmakers the courts would begin those furloughs in mid‑February unless the legislature provides alternatives.

The chief justice framed the problem as both a public‑safety and economic issue. "We have become the emergency room for society's worst ailments," she said, describing how rising filings and reduced staff can delay…