Tough Times for Judges : Problem of Funding the Courts Isn’t Solved Yet

The past year has been difficult for Orange County judges, and not just because of the trials in their courts. As the weeks ticked by, the money available to keep the courts operating dwindled alarmingly. As happens too often, the men and women with the solution--Sacramento legislators--waited until nearly the last minute before providing some relief.

A week and a half ago, the Legislature took the correct action and provided nearly $9 million to Orange County to keep the courts operating.

Until the appropriation, there had been concern about a constitutional clash between the legislative and judicial branches. Clearly, that would have served no one.

Unfortunately, the Legislature has done little to avert future cliff-hangers over court funding. In the past five years, state funding for trial courts throughout California has been cut 57%.

Legislators took the money in order to balance the state’s budget, but the result was to have the state providing less than 35% of Orange County’s court operations budget. The county was left to make up the rest.

But because of the county’s bankruptcy, its contributions to court operations were also trimmed. Even the new state emergency funds came with strings attached: a requirement that Orange County pony up $13 million.

County officials wisely realized they would have to increase funding and in recent months have managed to allocate more than $8 million to the courts. They expect to be able to ante up the remaining $5 million as well.

Orange County’s judges had warned that without the emergency money they would have to turn out the lights in the courtrooms. Similar concerns in other counties prompted Malcolm Lucas, then the state Supreme Court’s chief justice, to urge Gov. Pete Wilson last September to have the Legislature take immediate action. There was action, but it took nine months. That is too long.

The Board of Supervisors has begun looking for ways to make the court system less expensive and more efficient. That is a good idea. The presiding judge of the Orange County Superior Court, Theodore E. Millard, said the judges “don’t want to go through next year what we went through this year.”

Cost-cutting will help, but the Legislature will also have to do better in funding trial courts.