Kentucky

Brandon Ortiz at the Herald Leader did an outstanding story updating the after-effects on the courts from the budget reductions.  Herald Leader story follows, but click on the link for the entire story!

State courts hope to avoid layoffs, continue services with less money

Court officials are scrambling to make do with $55.7 million less than they had hoped over the next two years without laying off workers or slashing the popular drug courts program.

Lawmakers cut the Court of Justice operating budget on Wednesday by $13.6 million to $265.8 million for fiscal year 2009, which begins in July. Its budget rises to $295.9 million for fiscal year 2010.

Rising costs and spending obligations have created a budget shortfall, said Jason Nemes, director of the Administrative Office of the Courts. Layoffs are still a possible answer to the problem, he said.

Still, the proposed budget, which Gov. Steve Beshear is reviewing for possible line-item vetoes, improves upon earlier drafts by allowing the courts to raise fees and tap into construction funds to cover operating costs, Nemes said.

Those improvements mean it's unlikely that funding for drug courts will be reduced, he said. Drug courts divert drug abusers from crowded jails into court-monitored treatment programs.