Public Notice Detail

ST. PAUL, MN. (June 29, 1999) – Several laws that will impact the judicial branch are slated to take effect July 1, 1999.  Among them is legislation seating three new judges in the 7th, 9th and 10th Judicial Districts (see map below).

“Out of our initial request for eighteen judges, a total of thirteen, phased in over two years, were funded,” said Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Kathleen A. Blatz.  “We are pleased that the other two branches of government have recognized the connection between adequate resources and effective justice.  This is a very good start.”

NEW JUDGES:

The judgeships will be staggered in four waves:

            July 1, 1999                7th            9th            10th

            January 1, 2000            1st            2nd            10th

            July 1, 2000                7th            9th            10th

            January 1, 2001            1st            4th            2nd            10th

 

The Supreme Court, in consultation with the district’s bench and Chief Judge, will make decisions about where judges will be chambered.  Governor Ventura will then appoint the judges to the various seats.  The Legislature appropriated $4.7 million over the next biennium to fund the new judgeships.

JUDICIAL PAY:

Completing the last phase of a 1997 pay bill, the Legislature appropriated a __% increase in district court judge’s salaries effective July 1, 1999 and another __% increase for January 1, 2000.  Minnesota currently ranks in the bottom half of states (31st) for judicial salaries.

STATE FUNDING:

Also beginning July 1, court administration costs in the 5th, 7th and 9th judicial districts will begin a shift from county to state funding.  Court employees in those judicial districts who are now county employees would become state employees.  An ongoing state-funding pilot project in the 8th judicial district will also be made permanent and a timetable for state cost assumption in every district will be developed.  The funding shift is made possible through a transfer of county “HACA” property tax revenues and filing fee revenues to the state.

CHILD SUPPORT:

Based on a January 1999 Supreme Court ruling, all child support hearings must now be handled in the judicial branch, and not through the Office of Administrative Hearings, where it has been for many years.  Interim rules governing the new, expedited hearings process take effect July 1, along with an additional $2.3 million for implementation.

Chief Justice Blatz also set the stage for next year’s legislative agenda, citing concerns about the justice system’s technological abilities.  Although individual district’s computer systems are improving, information in many areas still does not readily transfer from one district to another. 

“The judiciary is both a major supplier and consumer of case information,” Chief Justice Blatz said.  “We simply must do a better job of tracking and integrating data.  Minnesota’s crime victims, our employers and our public safety depend on it.”

Currently, the judiciary receives less than one percent of the state’s total budget.