Miscellaneous

State Court Administration News

By Anne Skove, Esq.

• Across the River: Effective April 3, Jason Nemes will no longer be state court administrator of Kentucky. See Top State Court Administrator Resigns, Linda B. Blackford, Herald-Leader (March 14, 2009).
• TGIF in the Hawkeye State: Iowa courts will close several Fridays in a row. Court administrators estimate that each day of furlough will save $335,000. District court offices will close to the public Tuesdays and Thursdays at 2:30 p.m. so that the court employees can finish the work they would have done on Friday. See Court Offices Close for the Day, John Mangalonzo, The Hawk Eye (March 20, 2009). Meanwhile, restrictions on judicial travel have upset rural residents. See Iowa Rural Advocates Object to Judges' Travel Limits, Globe Gazette (April 1, 2009).
• Utah Thaw: Utah is ending furloughs and de-icing its judicial hiring freeze. See Furlough No Longer Expected for Utah Court Employees; Freeze on Judicial Hiring to Be Lifted, Seattle Times (March 17, 2009). How did Becker do it? By raising filing fees. Pick which access point to block -- economic or convenient time of day/week plus fully-staffed court. See Fee Hikes Save Utah Courts from Furloughs, Janice Peterson, Daily Herald (March 14, 2009).

Full post as published by court-o-rama.org on April 01, 2009 (boomark / email).