House and Senate to vote on proposals for Justice System funding – Make your voice heard

The Minnesota House and Senate will act on supplemental budget bills on Monday, March 22.  This is first of several bills the legislature will consider as it attempts to close a budget gap of approximately $1 billion for the current 2010-11 budget cycle.  While each body is proposing a [...]

House proposes 1.5% cut to Justice Sytem

The initial proposal from the House for the current biennium would limit cuts to the Justice System to 1.5%. As has the Senate, the House proposal treats the courts, public defense and civil legal services identically. Committee hearings on the House proposal are scheduled for Friday.
View the proposal here.

Comparison of Senate and Governor’s budget proposals

Gov. Pawlenty has proposed a 3% reduction in the court budget, with a 6% cut for civil legal services and some public defense grants. The Senate has proposed cuts of about 3.5%.
Here is a detailed breakdown of the two proposals. (http://www.senate.leg.state.mn.us/departments/fiscalpol/tracking/2010/Judiciary%20Gov%20and%20Senate.pdf)

Impact of Governor’s Budget on Public Defense

2012-2013 Outlook Summary

Status Quo the Board will lose $4.3 million (3.5%) of its funding ($75 attorney registration fee and federal funding).
Governor’s Rec is an additional 4% reduction. ($4.6 million for 2012-2013 period).
14% reduction in staffing last biennium.
10-15% reduction in staffing with the Governor’s recommendation.
Could lose 1/3 or more of the attorney staff. (Loss of one [...]

Hearings scheduled on Civil Legal Services

Hearings on funding for Civil Legal Services have been scheduled:
Minnesota Senate Judiciary Finance Division will be taking testimony on Civil Legal Services during its meeting starting at 12:30 PM on Thursday, February 25 in Room 125 of the State Capitol. More info here.
Minnesota House Public Safety Finance Division will be taking [...]

MSBA Reacts to Courts Cuts in Gov.’s Budget

As highlighted in the MinnLawyer Blog, MSBA President Leo Brisbois has released a statement in response to Governor Tim Pawlenty’s proposed funding cuts for the state’s judicial branch. The full statement appears below:
“The MSBA has and will continue to support adequate funding for the Justice System (i.e., the courts, civil legal services, and public defenders). [...]

Chief Justice Magnusen on proposed $14.7 million cut

Listen as Chief Justice Eric Magnuson explains the impacts of the Governor’s proposed cuts to the Court’s budget, and why all components of the justice system – including civil legal services and public defense – need to be adequately funded.
MN Supreme Court Chief Justice concerned about budget cuts

Governor’s Supplemental Budget

Here is the link to a summary of the Governor’s budget proposals for FY 2010 – FY 2013. More information, including the detailed budget proposal, is available at the Minnesota Management & Budget website: http://www.mmb.state.mn.us/.

Legislative Auditor: Public Defenders Stretched Too Thin

Excerpt from February 16, 2010 article appearing in the Pioneer Press, by reporter Dennis Lien:
Workloads for Minnesota’s public defenders are too high, leaving them inadequate time with clients, causing them problems preparing cases and leading to scheduling problems for courts, the Office of the Legislative Auditor said Tuesday.
In an evaluation that affirmed earlier [...]