NCJ Number
85282
Journal
Justice System Journal Volume: 7 Issue: 1 Dated: (Spring 1982) Pages: complete issue
Editor(s)
R R Wheeler
Date Published
1982
Length
145 pages
Annotation
Seven articles on trends in court financing and management strategies in budgeting consider the shift to a State-level financing system. The experiences of New Hampshire and the English magistrates' courts provide examples of individual approaches to fiscal management.
Abstract
An overview of the movement toward State-level financing is followed by an analysis of the Federal Government's attempts during the early 1970's to bring salaries of State judges under its wage-freeze authority. The analysis also explores the implications of this experience for the 'new federalism'. Another paper re-examines the traditional idea that the courts should provide publicly funded services and suggests types of user fees that might be imposed. An analysis of cutback management investigates possible shifts in workload, better control of basic operating costs (such as personnel and facilities), and management of 'volatile' (mandated) costs. Issues that State and local court administrators may encounter in shifting to State-level budgeting are detailed, such as the impact on trial court administration and financial and personnel management from the State perspective. New Hampshire recently revamped its courts' fiscal structure; an analysis includes a summary of the project's legislative history and impact, excerpts from a 1981 report of a State commission established to study court system needs, and the resulting legislation. The final paper discusses the financial structure of England's magistrates' courts, which dispose of more than 90 percent of all criminal cases and are funded by a combined central-local mechanism. References accompany all articles.