Monday, May 19, 2008
Page 3
Czuleger Says Court May Face $57 Million in Cuts
By STEVEN M. ELLIS, Staff Writer
Los Angeles Superior Court Presiding Judge J. Stephen Czuleger said Friday that the Superior Court could be facing as much as $57 million in budget cuts as a result of the state’s current $17.2 billion budget shortfall.
Explaining that the prospect had arisen in connection with a request by the Administrative Office of the Courts to all of the state’s superior courts to predict the potential impact of three possible scenarios—permanent cuts, temporary cuts, or a suspension allocation increases for growth—the judge told the MetNews that he had responded to the AOC that “none [of the scenarios] would be good.”
Czuleger said that the AOC had presented the Superior Court with a potential $47 million cut under the first scenario, but that in responding he had considered the proposal to contemplate a $57 million cut as court security currently remains underfunded by $10 million.
He said that the AOC’s third proposed scenario would involve suspension of the state appropriations limit, which places an “upper bound” each year on the amount of monies that can be spent from state tax proceeds based on growth.
The MetNews has previously reported that Czuleger has estimated that the Superior Court may experience 34 vacant judicial officer positions by the end of this year, including positions currently up for election, but said he does not know how—and whether—they will all be filled given the state’s current fiscal crisis.
Copyright 2008, Metropolitan News Company