Trial Court faces staffing shortfalls and multimillion-dollar budget gap, administrator says
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Subscribe
Summary
Trial Court Administrator Thomas Ambrosino said the trial court has cut more than 200 positions through a hiring freeze and a retirement incentive, has authorized 72 backfills after a partial funding restoration, and will seek a roughly $41 million increase for FY27 to cover nondiscretionary costs.
Thomas Ambrosino, the Trial Court administrator, told the Massachusetts Bar Association panel that budget shortfalls have substantially reduced staffing and constrained court operations.
"We're down over 200 employees from where we were just in June," Ambrosino said, describing the combined effect of a hiring freeze and a retirement incentive program that prompted more than 100 employees to retire early.
Ambrosino said the trial court began the fiscal year with a budget of $961,300,000 and that the shortfall compared with the court's maintenance request (about $985,000,000) amounted to roughly $24,000,000. He said the legislature overrode a gubernatorial veto to restore roughly $9.3–$9.5 million to the court this year, enabling selective hiring: "I've authorized 72 backfills," he said, but added that the court is pausing further backfills while awaiting the governor's FY27 proposal.
He outlined nondiscretionary cost pressures driving a larger FY27 request, including roughly $25,000,000 for contract‑mandated cost‑of‑living increases for unionized staff, lease and temporary facility costs (a temporary Quincy location he estimated at about $6,000,000 annually and temporary Lynn arrangements costing about $2,500,000), and higher IT operating costs (Ambrosino cited roughly $1,200,000 in additional Wi‑Fi costs). "We will, for the first time, be seeking a budget over $1,000,000,000 for the trial court," he said.
Ambrosino described operational impacts of vacancies: clerk's offices short by several staff that slow processing, longer phone waits, delayed paperwork for attorneys and longer in‑line times for court users. He said the court avoided involuntary layoffs by relying on attrition and incentives but acknowledged the staffing shortfall "has a real impact on operations."
On courthouse safety, Ambrosino said capital funds from a bond bill are being used to upgrade physical security at courthouses (21 completed, four more scheduled this year), and that the court's security office coordinates with the state police in response to threats.
No formal votes took place at the event. Ambrosino's remarks concluded the panel portion of the program.