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Justice Court shifts funds to cover rising travel and juror costs
Summary
Commissioners agreed to shift $600 from publicity to travel in the justice court budget to cover judge travel to training and juror-related costs; juror payments and postage fluctuate with trial volume.
At 9:45 a.m. the board took up the justice court budget and justice court staff walked commissioners through line items tied to juror costs, postage and travel for training. The justice court representative distributed budget pages and confirmed commissioners had copies before discussion began.
"Was I supposed to make one for each of you?" the justice court representative asked while distributing papers. Staff said juror postage and other purchase services vary greatly depending on trial volume — some years have no drug trials, other years have many — and that judges and staff travel to Billings for hearings and Missoula for training. Commissioners agreed to move $600 from publicity/subscriptions into travel, increasing the travel line to $1,400 to provide a modest buffer without changing the overall budget total.
Commissioners also noted wages and employee contributions were still not included across draft budgets and said those will be added later before finalization. With no further questions, the panel closed the justice court discussion and adjourned the session.
