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Courts ask for multiple new judges and a court commissioner as backlog grows
Summary
Senator Weiler and court officials outlined requests tied to Senate Bill 57 and related amendments for up to eight new judges (district, appellate and juvenile) and a court commissioner, estimating roughly $500,000 per new judgeship for salary and support costs.
Senator Weiler presented judicial staffing requests tied in part to Senate Bill 57 and related amendments, describing a backlog driven by workload. He said the judicial council's current request encompasses district, appellate and juvenile-court judges and that recent amendments add urgency for three district judges in Salt Lake, Provo and St. George.
"It costs about a half million dollars to add a new judge," Weiler said, explaining that the figure includes the judge's salary, two assistants, benefits and operating costs. Michael Drexel, assistant state court administrator, confirmed that this would be the largest single-year district-court expansion in recent decades and answered members' questions about historical additions and workload assessments.
Members probed which districts would receive positions under existing bills; Weiler said some amendments provide for three highly urgent district judges while other requested judges remain part of the council's broader needs assessment. No appropriation decision was made at the hearing.
