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Court officials: Blake vacates and refunds remain a major unfinished task; outreach underway for $30M in unclaimed refunds
Summary
AOC budget staff told the interbranch advisory committee that Blake administrative vacates continue to require substantial work and that roughly $30 million in refunds is unclaimed; staff described outreach to find eligible claimants and said tens of thousands of cases remain to be vacated.
AOC officials used the interbranch advisory meeting to emphasize that the Blake implementation effort is far from complete and that a separate refund effort is active to return money to eligible people.
Christopher Stanley said the administrative vacate unit is processing many cases but that "there are tens of thousands of cases that still have to be vacated," and added that roughly $30,000,000 sits in the Blake Refund Bureau for about 90,000 unclaimed cases. He encouraged community outreach and use of the court website's refund portal to help claimants.
Court management and municipal representatives said courts are being encouraged to complete vacates before migrating to a new case management system to avoid disrupting processing. Several attendees noted capacity constraints in smaller counties where broadband and staffing limit remote options and where AOC support remains vital.
Stanley and other presenters framed Blake work as continuing both administrative vacates and resentencings, some of which must happen within court decisions rather than administrative channels. AOC said it will continue outreach and capacity support for courts as part of implementation.
