Budget woes have court fees rising
Published on -7/5/2009, 10:49 PM
Printer-friendly version
E-Mail This Story
By RYAN CHRISTNER
If getting ticketed for a traffic offense wasn't unpleasant enough, the recent addition of a $10 surcharge to the current fees for that and many other kinds of cases will make trips to the courthouse weigh a little heavier on Kansans' pocketbooks.
Having gone into effect Wednesday, the change affects the costs already associated with most legal matters, including driver's license reinstatement, obtaining a marriage license and filing an appeal.
The move is in response to a 13.8 percent, or nearly $16 million, cut in the 2010 state court system budget and is projected to make up about $5 million.
Combined with earlier revenue-increasing measures, such as a withdrawal of funding for temporary part-time court employees and a statewide court hiring freeze, the Kansas Judicial Branch still is short $8.1 million.
If more money is not secured, Chief Justice Robert E. Davis has warned all non-judicial employees that it might be necessary to impose 30 days of furloughs.
That is the equivalent of shutting down state courts one week each month for six months beginning in January.
The Kansas Supreme Court has applied for a $2.6 million federal stimulus grant and is hoping the remainder will be secured through supplemental funding from the Legislature when it reconvenes in January.
Gov. Mark Parkinson and legislative leaders already have pledged to work toward that goal.
Ellis County Court Administrator Phil Fielder said the increased fees have not yet caused much of a buzz locally, but he added the part-time employee funding cut did have an effect.
Fielder said two temporary workers, who helped with filing and various secretarial duties, have since been let go, and it affects his office's decision to close from 4 to 5 p.m. to allow staff to catch up on work.
The problem faced by the Kansas Judicial Branch, Fielder said, is that 98 percent of its budget goes to salaries, so personnel make up a disproportionate part of the target when looking for places to cut.
"My employees are worried about furloughs and all that," he said.
Unfortunately, as with cuts to other agencies, government personnel aren't the only ones affected by the changes.
The "cut and resulting court closings would have devastating consequences for our most vulnerable Kansas citizens," Davis said in a statement. "Children in need of care, persons seeking protection from abuse and protection from stalking and persons and their families who are seeking mental health or substance abuse treatment all would be placed at risk."
Not only that, but supervision of offenders by court service officers would suffer, and it could be difficult to meet filing and other deadlines pertaining to the right to a speedy trial and other Kansas statutes, he added.
In times of budgetary crisis, however, implementing unwanted policies often becomes a necessary practice.
"I don't think the courts wanted another surcharge," Fielder said, "but we've got to stay open somehow."
A complete listing of the new court fee schedule is available at www.kscourts.gov.
You are full of it. I've worked for both private and government. Over the years I saw much more waste in the private sector then local government. Go to a bigger city and you will see more money spent on a corporate bathroom then our entire courthouse! Give me examples of where they are doing more with less. In the gorcery store where they are shrinking the conents of packages? In energy where the prices keep going up and up! In hospits where they skimp on service to the point you are afraid to leave a loved one alone? Or drugs? Or health care? How many more people are going to the county health dept. because the "private" sector is failing them. As far as I am concerned, we have a lean local government. You have to prove the need of adding positions nothing short of death. When times are good, there are those who say, "we can't do more, we have to lower the taxes". Then when times are bad, "oh we have to do with less! Thank goodness ther are those, who know what it takes to get a job done, and do whatever it takes to get it done instead of constantly whinning for less.
(Posted by: Retired)
: 7/5/2009
Amazing how the private sector figures out how to do more with less. Unfortunately, our government entities (schools included) can't figure it out.
(Posted by: )
COMMENT ON THIS STORY
All comments are subject to approval before being posted. Please keep comments constructive and relevant. Opinions certainly can be expressed, but comments that are rude, abusive, slanderous, threatening, sexually oriented, contain profanity or are vulgar will not be tolerated. Comments will not be edited. Any comment that violates the above-listed rules will be deleted.
