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 resolutions that move money through the economy and slow recovery. Durham reported that civil filings statewide rose about 22% in the first half of the fiscal year and that mortgage foreclosures jumped about 101%.

Durham summarized the court budget situation in concrete terms: the judiciary has approximately $44 million left in its FY2009 budget and about $30 million after mandatory lease, contract and judges' compensation payments. She said the courts are heavily general‑fund dependent (89% of revenue) and that roughly 91% of remaining funds go to employee pay. A 7.5% reduction, she said, "equates to $8,000,000 out of our remaining $30,000,000 for the rest of the year." Those constraints, she warned, would limit the courts' ability to hear cases and could force regular court closures to concentrate limited staff on open days.

Looking ahead to next fiscal year, Durham said a 15% cut would have more severe and permanent consequences: the legislative fiscal analyst estimates the courts would have to eliminate about 283 positions from a workforce of just over 1,000, which could include permanent court‑location closures and the inability to hear many civil and delinquency matters.

To avert the deepest staffing losses, Durham proposed two revenue measures for the legislature to consider. First, the judiciary recommends calibrated increases in civil filing fees, saying Utah's fees are on the low end compared with neighboring states; she suggested an effective date of April 1 to produce three months of FY2009 revenue that could shorten furloughs. Second, Durham urged support for pending federal legislation to allow the state to intercept federal tax refunds owed to people who owe the state money, expanding the state's FINDERS program; she said passage could generate "millions of dollars for Utah's General Fund." Durham asked the legislature to consider a joint resolution supporting the federal change.

Durham also listed steps already taken to reduce costs, including a hiring freeze, holding judicial vacancies open, eliminating in‑house court reporters in favor of audio recording, canceling travel and training, and identifying a reduction in force of 60 Administrative Office of the Courts employees by the end of the fiscal year.

The address closed with an appeal to preserve the judiciary’s ability to perform constitutional duties across civil, family, juvenile and criminal matters. Following the remarks, Representative Garn moved that the text of the address be spread on the House and Senate journals; that motion passed by voice vote. The joint convention was later dissolved and adjourned on a unanimous voice vote.