Administrative Law Court asks for $313,200 to cover retirement and attorney pay, cites e-filing gains

Judge Trip Anderson told the committee the administrative law court has implemented a new e-filing and case-management system and is seeking state funds to address retirement contributions and salary competitiveness. "But, we implemented the e filing system," he said, noting the court switched to a South Carolina vendor, Team IA, after an earlier vendor moved to Canada. He said the new platform has increased efficiencies for attorneys and the court and allows the office to accept credit-card payments for walk-ins.

Anderson thanked legislators for a prior increase in attorney pay that he said prevented a deeper staffing crisis but said the court still lost a top staff attorney to DNR because other agencies can offer higher salaries. He described the court's work as "very complex litigation" and said retaining qualified attorneys is critical.

On budget specifics, Anderson requested $70,000 to cover employer/employee contributions to the judicial retirement system tied to a retired judge’s prior election (identified in his remarks as Shirley Robinson) and $243,200 for salary increases to maintain competitiveness with other state agencies. He framed the retirement request as catch-up funding for costs the court has been absorbing since the judge’s retirement and said the salary request is intended to keep pace with rising attorney pay elsewhere.

Committee members thanked Anderson for a conservative presentation and asked no further budget questions; Anderson replied he had no additional items to present. The committee did not take immediate action on the requests during the hearing.

The next procedural step is committee consideration of the budget requests; no vote or formal disposition occurred at the hearing.