Judge: Budget cuts may end drug court, curtain other vital services
Dear Editor:
I request everyone to contact their Kentucky State Senator and Representative immediately to urge passage of the Judicial Branch budget as Chief Justice Minton proposed.
I have particular interest in the effect budget cuts will have on the development of our eFiling and new case management systems. In 2013, the General Assembly authorized the Judicial Branch to issue $28.1 million in bonds to develop and implement these projects. The implementation is in a critical phase, with AOC currently training deputy clerks and some judges and judicial staff to use the new systems. Losing the number of deputies and judicial staff Chief Justice Minton predicts would at least cripple and possibly end implementation of these projects – and a waste 28.1 million badly needed dollars.
Based on our experience with the reductions to the judicial budget in recent years, we can expect the loss of hundreds of employees and statewide courthouse closings possibly weeks in duration. This will cause hardships to citizens requiring operators licenses, the filing and review of court documents, the scheduling of matters only courts may hear and the decisions courts must make and distribute after hearing.
Reduction and possible elimination of pretrial services would cause chaos in our criminal justice system. Reduction and possible elimination of court designated workers would likewise cripple an already over-burdened juvenile justice system, which in turn could result in the loss of badly needed federal funds and expose Kentucky to penalties for failing to comply with federal mandates.
Statewide courthouse closings and personnel loss would also delay courts processing and hearing urgent domestic and interpersonal violence cases, issuance of criminal arrest warrants, mental health warrants, involuntary hospitalizations and search warrants. There would no doubt be difficulties and delays in processing probate proceedings, causing undue hardship to Kentucky families coping with family member deaths. Reduction in courthouse security would also result, unnecessarily jeopardizing the safety, not only of clerk and judicial personnel, but also to the many members of the general public using the courts on a daily basis.
This may also mean the end of Drug Courts. In Nelson County, our Drug Court provides help to those who want to escape drug use and lifestyle. Under the leadership of Chief Circuit Judge Charles Simms and Drug Court Supervisor Kayce Reynolds, the Nelson County Drug Court has given so many Nelson Countians new hope for the future. This would be particularly devastating now, because so many in this county and state are using and becoming addicted to heroin, a drug with an addiction so strong almost no one can rid themselves of it without help.
Kentucky deserves better than this.
John David “Jack” Seay
Judge, 10th Judicial Circuit, Division 2
