Superior Court of California County of Riverside
Subject:
Governor Brown Signs State Budget; Impact on Riverside County Superior Court
Date:
Fri, 28 Jun 2013 09:23:20 -0700
Content-Type:
text/plain
Superior Court of California
County of Riverside
4050 Main Street, Riverside, CA 92501
MEDIA ADVISORY
June 28, 2013
Contact: Mark A. Cope, Presiding Judge
(951) 777-3162
(electronic version available at:
http://riverside.courts.ca.gov/media/media.shtml)
GOVERNOR BROWN SIGNS STATE BUDGET; IMPACT ON RIVERSIDE COUNTY
SUPERIOR COURT
RIVERSIDE COUNTY:
On June 27, 2013, Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. signed the state budget for
fiscal year 2013-14. While the final budget included some good news for the
judicial branch, it unfortunately falls short of the $100 million that had
originally been proposed by budget subcommittees in both the Senate and
Assembly during the last several weeks.
The final budget restores to California’s trial courts $60 million of the funding
that has been lost over the last five years. This equates to approximately
$3.8 million for the Riverside Superior Court and, along with another internal
adjustment made within the branch, restores a total of approximately $5.3
million to the court’s operating budget for the fiscal year that begins on July 1,
2013. While this is definitely positive news, the amount of restored funding is
woefully inadequate to make up for the years of funding reductions which,
over the past five years, have reduced the operating budget of the Riverside
Superior Court alone by approximately $20 million. Because the restoration of
funding is not sufficient to cover operational expenses, additional staff
reductions affecting every division in the court will still be necessary. This will
involve positions in operations, management, administration, legal, human
resources and information technology. In addition, other operational
adjustments will need to be made to realize efficiencies and reduce costs,
including the planned reductions in services at the Blythe and Temecula
courthouses.
The court will continue its efforts, both locally and as a branch, to secure the
critical funding necessary to keep courthouses opens and public counters
staffed. It is disheartening that at the same time the court is struggling with
a decimated budget, announcements were just made that state employees
are slated to receive pay increases and have planned furloughs cancelled. It is
hoped that this same attention and commitment be made by the Governor and
Legislature to the judicial branch in the coming months as well.
Budget updates and other information regarding public service changes will
continue to be posted on the court’s website at www.riverside.courts.ca.gov,
through media releases, and by signage posted in local courthouses.
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