NH DISTRICT COURT Administrative Judge Edwin Kelly warned that due in part to security cutbacks, the state’s district courts might have to close on March 1 if additional funding is not provided to the judiciary.

District court security problems were among the many issues addressed by the faculty panel of the NHBA Mid-Year Meeting CLE on court funding and its impact on lawyers’ practices. The panel discussion featured representatives from the Superior, district and probate courts detailing the practical consequences of a judicial branch budget that has taken several whacks this year.

The court system this budget year was appropriated $52.8 million, well below the $59.6 million the courts had requested. But the Legislature then mandated an additional cut – to be implemented by the courts themselves – of $4.3 million. Kelly said that the district courts will run out of money for court security months before the end of the state’s fiscal year, and it would not be safe to operate the district courts without security officers. He said legislative leaders have recognized the problem and drafted a bill that would transfer money from a surplus prison project into court security, but the measure has a lengthy course to follow. It is currently being considered by the House Public Works and Highways Committee and then must move to the Finance Committee before being voted on by the full House and Senate. Kelly fears the bill will not pass by Feb. 14, the date by which he must notify full-time security guards that their jobs would end on March 1. Kelly asked Bar members to contact legislators to urge prompt action on the matter.

The other court budget CLE panelists included: Walter Murphy, chief judge of the NH Superior Court; Julie Howard, clerk of Strafford County Superior Court; John Maher, administrative judge of the probate court; Andrew Christie, Rockingham County register of probate; and Paula Hurley, Manchester District Court clerk. Heidi Boyack, administrator of the NH Family Division pilot project, also spoke, and Judge Francis Larkin – formerly of the Appellate Division of the Massachusetts District Court, current chancellor of Southern New England School of Law and recent chair of the ABA’s Judicial Division – provided a national perspective.

Hurley, clerk of the state’s busiest court, Manchester, was riveting in describing how shortages of personnel in her office – which currently has four unfilled positions – has her constantly shifting people from one task to another to make sure priorities are addressed. She said she fears that under such conditions, a paperwork slipup might occur that could threaten someone’s safety. And many people are denied access to justice because, for example, small claims cases are constantly delayed to allow time for more time-sensitive cases, such as criminal matters or those involving children, Hurley said.

Boyack described life "in limbo" for the Family Division courts, which never expanded from the two pilot counties and which are struggling for funding. Fewer full-time judges are assigned to the Family Division courts, forcing them to rely on part-time judges, which is rapidly depleting their budget.

Superior Court Chief Justice Murphy took the Legislature to task for the plight of the Family Division. "The Family Division is an example of one of those things we were told by the Legislature to create – ‘This is what we want you to do’ – but they didn’t fund it," he said.

Murphy also elaborated on the rationale and the overstated impact of the delay in jury trials in the Superior courts. He said that the jury expenses saved in each of the five months when jury sessions won’t be held over the biennium will help the court preserve clerical positions that are essential to the functioning of the court. Murphy added that eliminating five months of jury trials comes on top of many other cuts in other areas, and stressed that the jury session delays are going to have a "minimal effect" on the public.

Nina Gardner, executive director of the NH Judicial Council, also offered her views, describing how her department, which is separately funded from the courts, is also coping with budget cuts that are likely to have an impact in the next fiscal year. Gardner, whose department funds indigent criminal defense and guardians ad litem in abuse and neglect cases, said her budget won’t last through the fiscal year, which will likely result in delays in payments to contract attorneys.

Judge Larkin, whose involvement in the ABA provides him a national perspective, ticked off a list of other states in which courts face serious budget cuts. He suggested that court officials do a better job of publicizing the consequences of budget cuts before they are made by the Legislature, and also suggested that courts advocate the establishment of a "blue-ribbon commission," separate from the judiciary and the Legislature, to more objectively develop recommendations for adequate judicial funding.

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