Supreme Court seeks 68 new judges for Fla.
TALLAHASSEE (AP) – Florida needs 68 new judges to handle a caseload that’s been expanding largely because of increases in crime and foreclosures, both resulting from hard economic times, the state Supreme Court said Thursday in a report to the Legislature.
The justices asked for 29 more circuit judges and 39 additional county judges in the report required by the Florida Constitution. They did not request any new appellate judges.
Chief Justice Peggy Quince also pleaded with lawmakers not to make any more cuts in administrative staffing. She wrote for the court that “there is limited value” in certifying more judges if they don’t have the support needed to perform their duties.
Quince noted lawmakers have eliminated 301 staff positions in the court system during the last and current budget years although caseloads have soared. Mortgage foreclosure cases lead the list with a 396 percent increase in filings over a two-year span ending June 30, 2008.
Lawmakers have cut most parts of the state budget in the past two years because tax and other revenues have dropped due to the very economic downturn that’s blamed for increasing the courts’ caseloads.
“This court acknowledges that our state and our nation are experiencing an unparalleled economic crisis,” Quince wrote. “Nonetheless, there comes a time when making necessary adjustments in order to sustain budget reductions cascades into crippling the daily operations of an entire branch of government.”