DJ – Justice: Cuts may hit trial courts
What if you want a divorce but can’t get one because court is closed for lack of money?
Or if you face a trial and can’t get a hearing because the judge’s travel money ran out?
It could happen next year, said Chief Justice William Waller Jr., who directs the operations of the Mississippi Supreme Court.
Waller posed his concerns Monday when he spoke to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, which is considering budget requests from all the state’s agencies for Fiscal Year 2011, which begins July 1.
Ben Creekmore of New Albany, district attorney for seven Northeast Mississippi counties, on Friday said a bit facetiously about the looming situation, “I guess we’ll try to get everything done before May.”
James Roberts of Pontotoc, a former state Supreme Court justice and now a circuit judge, says closing the courts would be an “extreme” result of budget difficulties.
“We’ve already seen limitations” on court budgets, he noted, saying a hiring freeze and travel constraints already are in effect.
But to shut down the state courts system indeed would be problematic, assessed Roberts.
“In my personal opinion, if I could get to a courthouse, I would hold court,” he said.
Speaker Billy McCoy of Rienzi told Waller he recognized the importance to fund one of the state’s three branches of government.
“We hope we can meet your request,” McCoy told him, describing it as “very meager.”
Monday, the joint committee begins its second week of hearings.
Patsy Brumfield
9/28/9
Magnolia Tribune
