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Justice court asks for more staff as filings and hearings surge
Summary
The justice court requested a FY27 budget of $7,538,063 (a ~19.9% increase) and additional staff to address an 85% projected rise in criminal filings over a 10-year period and recent large year-to-year increases in hearings and filings.
Michael Sanders, the council policy analyst, introduced the justice court's FY27 budget request: $7,538,063, an increase of about $1.2 million (19.9%). Presiding Judge Jojo Liu and financial manager Valita Hitchcock presented data showing escalating caseloads: the court described a projected 85% increase in criminal filings over the prior 10 years and a 37% increase in filings in the recent 12-month comparison period.
Judge Liu said the court is seeking additions that would bring total FTEs to 53 and asked the council to consider both near-term 'bare minimum' staffing and more functional staffing that would provide longer-term capacity. "We have a projected increase of 85% in criminal filings over that 10 year period," Judge Liu said. Councilmembers asked whether bare-minimum staffing would be sufficient to return the system to a strategic posture; staff responded that the bare-minimum plan should help and that some requested positions are contingent on approval of the property-tax proposal.
Why it matters: The justice court framed its request as part of a system-wide need that includes prosecutors and public defenders; council members emphasized coordination and the importance of maintaining access to legal representation as caseloads increase. The administration flagged roughly $1.5M of property-tax proposal funding that would support court and related office staffing across the system.
