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Justice court reports stable budget; Spanish interpreters remain in highest demand
Summary
Judge Antonio Barbeos told the Davis County Budget Committee the justice court is ‘doing pretty well’ on staffing and equipment, with no new budget requests; Spanish is the court’s most-requested interpreter language, and a $1,000 ‘2024 budget reduction’ was applied to travel and training because rooms and registrations for some education events are covered.
Judge Antonio Barbeos, justice court, told the Davis County Budget Committee that the justice court’s budget is stable and the department has no new funding requests for the coming year. “We just reported to you, how successful we believe we are,” Barbeos said, adding the court is largely meeting needs for staff and equipment.
Barbeos said interpreter services continue to be an important cost and operational item. When asked whether Spanish remains the most-requested language, he said: “Spanish would be would far out number anything else we have,” and listed numerous other languages the court has used, including Russian, Chuukese, Portuguese, Mandarin, Tongan, Samoan and Turkish.
A committee member flagged a $1,000 line labeled a “2024 budget reduction” in the court’s travel and training detail. Barbeos explained that cuts of that type often come from a central administrative directive: “we would get a notice from Curtis saying, we need you to cut x number of dollars and we don't care where it comes from,” so departments identify accounts where the reduction can be absorbed. In this case, Barbeos and staff noted that rooms and registration for certain judicial and clerk education events are typically paid by the state, which allowed the justice court to reduce its travel and training line.
Committee members and court staff expressed appreciation for Human Resources support during budget discussions. An off-topic exchange asked whether judges are required by state law to wear black robes; Barbeos said wearing a robe is tradition rather than a statute and suggested the Administrative Office of the Courts may allow exceptions, citing a past judge who was excused for medical reasons.
The committee had no further questions and agreed to end the session early. No formal motions or votes were taken on the justice court budget during the meeting.
