Allen County Court Clerk Dina Morrison and District Judge Daniel Creitz appeared before county commissioners Tuesday morning asking for an 8% budget increase for 2020.
Morrison said the reason for the increase was a rising number of cases involving indigent defendants, whose attorneys need to be reimbursed for their work.
I am asking for a $38,429 increase, Morrison said. We are looking to increase reimbursements from defendants. We have had more and more of these cases. The caseload has steadily increased every year.
In addition to an increase in costs for court-appointed attorneys, Morrison also asked for a 10% increase in funds for Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA), which provides support for children in domestic violence and abuse situations. The court clerk also requested $5,000 to update computers to Windows 10. Allen County needs the new computers to be able to run a new centralized case management system that is mandated by the Kansas Supreme Court.
Early last year, the high court announced its rollout plan for the judicial branchs new case management system to allow all district court and appellate court data to reside on a single web-based platform. It is a five-year plan, with courts receiving the most cases being put on the system earlier in the process. The 31st Judicial District, which includes Allen, Neosho, Woodson and Wilson counties, is expected to be running on the program Odyssey Case Manager System by early next year.
Morrison said the county is still looking for a court reporter. The office has been relying on electronic recordings and a few retired court reporters who have been able to fill in as needed.
Creitz said commissioners should expect an invitation to Drug Court Graduation on July 11. Creitz praised the program, saying in six-and-a-half years only three of more than 90 graduates have re-entered the court system.
The judge said the program is almost entirely funded by federal programs.
We are very thankful for the funding the federal government provides for this program, Creitz said. The state puts more and more people in mandatory treatment and continues to pay less each year.
Commissioners briefly talked about expansion with Morrison and Creitz, which involved a new courtroom as well as offices. Creitz said the small courtroom they have now is a security concern, adding that the department has grown significantly in employees and has run out of workspace. Creitz said it was best to start talking expansion now and get something planned for the future.
All it will take is one security incident in southeast Kansas and every county in the region will be scrambling to take new security measures and will be building new courtrooms. We have been close to having problems in the past. I know the costs will be astronomical but they will only go up the longer we wait, Creitz said.
Commissioner Jerry Daniels, who was unable to attend the meeting, but listened to the meeting via phone, said that they are considering adding another courtroom on either the north or south side of the courthouse, and will begin looking for extra office space in the near future.
PUBLIC WORKS Director Mitch Garner said work on county roads continues to be the biggest priority for his department.
Crews have been working around the clock crushing rock for road repair.
We can crush around 500 tons of rock an hour, but most of the time trucks are taking it faster than we can crush it, Garner said.
Garner said projects such as making pebbles for roads that they sell to surrounding towns have been put on the backburner until they can get caught up with local needs.
