Public Notice Detail

MANKATO, MN (April 2, 2001) – Southwest Minnesota judges have expressed strong support for the Judiciary’s legislative request of $86.6 million.  The funding will help the Fifth Judicial District cope with caseloads that have nearly tripled since 1982.

Caseloads, as well as a transfer of funding and administrative responsibilities from the counties to the state court system, have stressed Fifth District resources nearly to the breaking point.  Court staff has assumed much more work, leaving less time to process cases and collect fines.  In addition, other mandated services such as court interpreters and advocates for abused and neglected children do not have enough funding to meet demands.

The Judiciary’s proposed budget would help the Fifth District keep pace with increasing workloads.  The district includes the counties of Blue Earth, Brown, Cottonwood, Faribault, Jackson, Lincoln, Lyon, Martin, Murray, Nicollet, Nobles, Pipestone, Redwood, Rock and Watonwan.

Major criminal cases in the Fifth District have increased 151 percent since 1982 and major juvenile cases have increased 161 percent.  Major cases take up about 80 percent of judges’ time.

Workloads have increased further with the introduction of state funding to the district.  In 1999, the Minnesota Legislature decided to move funding and administrative responsibilities from 55 of Minnesota’s 87 counties to one source – the state.  Districts 5, 7, 8, and 9 became state funded in 2000, with the remaining judicial districts to be phased in throughout the coming years.

In July, 2000 the Fifth Judicial District assumed the budget and personnel responsibility for 130 additional employees and a $6 million budget with court offices in 16 locations.  No new staff has been provided.  Now, the district requires two positions to support accounting and human resource functions.

These and other administrative duties, including filing and maintaining court files, have left court administration staff with virtually no time to collect court fines and restitution payments for crime victims.  The Fifth District estimates that its uncollected fines and restitution payments amount to more than $13 million.  Screener/collector positions have been requested and should pay for themselves through the fine revenues the individuals collect.

“We’re actually hurting ourselves by not collecting fines, which help fund local emergency shelters and other organizations that work to prevent violence in our community,” said Judge Bruce Gross, Chief Judge of the Fifth Judicial District.  “Not collecting restitution payments is not acceptable either.  Without restitution, the victims of crime cannot begin to heal and move on with their lives.”

Court Interpreters/Guardians ad Litem

The Judiciary’s budget also includes $10.6 million for mandated services such as court interpreters and guardians ad litem.

Fifth District courts are struggling to provide qualified interpreters for non-English-speaking and hearing-impaired people.  Interpreters are constitutionally mandated because they are fundamental to understanding court proceedings.

Blue Earth County has seen an increased need for Somali and Spanish interpreters, as well as American Sign Language interpreters.  Demands have also increased in Watonwan, Lyon and Nobles counties.  In Worthington, the courts hear one in four cases in a language other than English and there are more than 20 different dialects spoken by the city’s 10,000 residents.

Language barriers can double or triple court time.  According to the Minnesota Legislative Auditor, more than half of Minnesota attorneys and judges agree that cultural and language differences significantly affect the court’s ability to process cases today compared with five or more years ago.

Statewide, judicial district expenditures on interpreter services increased by 197 percent in just four years, from $674,000 in 1996 to $2 million in 2000.

Courts are also finding it difficult to find enough guardians ad litem.  Currently, 40 percent of all Minnesota children involved in child abuse and neglect cases have no voice in the court proceedings that determine their fate, even though an advocate is required by state and federal law.  An additional 14 percent have inadequate representation because existing guardians are stretched so thin they cannot spend enough time per case.

“Minnesotans come to our courtrooms with their most important problems and depend on us to make good decisions.  But there are unacceptable resource deficits in several areas that make judges less effective,” said Chief Justice Kathleen A. Blatz of the Minnesota Supreme Court.  “We must work to solve these problems.  Failing to address the court system’s needs will mean real consequences for real people.”