Public Notice Detail

ST. PAUL, MN (Jan. 26, 2001) - Today leaders of Minnesota’s judiciary reacted to a report released by the Legislative Auditor’s Office evaluating the state’s trial court system. 

At a formal presentation of the findings in the State Capitol, Chair of the Conference of Chief Judges, Chief Judge Leslie M. Metzen praised the report.  “We believe this has been a fair and thorough evaluation of the court system’s programs and we are very pleased with the results,” Judge Metzen said.

Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Kathleen A. Blatz pointed to the report as independent verification of the efficiency of the trial courts, the lack of resources to keep pace with caseloads and the inadequacy of time to effectively address the problems brought to courtrooms around the state. 

“If we fail to address the court system’s needs, there will be very real consequences for very real people,” said Chief Justice Blatz.  “It means many abused and neglected children will have no voice in court proceedings because we do not have enough money to fund advocates for them.  It means many non-English-speaking Minnesotans will be denied understanding of and access to justice because we do not have enough money to pay for qualified court interpreters.  There are already unacceptable deficits in these areas and we must work to change them.”

The Legislative Auditor’s report showed that:

• Major caseload filings have increased at twice the rate of state expenditures on the judiciary.
• Judges and attorneys are very concerned about the size of judges’ caseloads.  They are also concerned about judges’ abilities to devote adequate time to each case.
• Those who work in the judicial system are very troubled by not having the guardians ad litem (advocates for abused and neglected children), court interpreters and public defenders that are needed daily in court proceedings.
• Judges and attorneys feel that having too few judges contributes to courtroom delay.

“Basically, the report shows what trial court judges have known for years – that we’re trying to fit a size 10 foot into a size six shoe,” said Chief Judge Metzen.  “It just doesn’t fit.”

In addition to these findings, the Legislative Auditor’s report made two recommendations:  1)  The judiciary should update its “weighted caseload” study to determine judge need, and 2) The Legislature should consider making the pay for retired judges uniform.  The court system has begun to address these two issues.  A new caseload study should be forthcoming in the next biennium and the Conference of Chief Judges has been working over the last year to adjust the compensation plan for retired judges.