Idaho Business Review
December 30, 2009
By Simon Shifrin

The Idaho Supreme Court is pushing a proposal to charge law-breakers an extra $15, which officials say is needed to shore up the state’s overburdened court system and keep the wheels of justice turning.

At the same time, the court is pursuing a $25 increase in civil filing fees to bolster the Judges’ Retirement Fund, whose investments have declined during the economic downturn. Fees have not been raised since 1990 to support the fund, which was created in 1947 before the existence of the Public Employees Retirement System (PERSI).

The Supreme Court, which is responsible for administration and supervision of the state’s trial courts and Court of Appeals, has proposed an emergency surcharge of up to $15 to be paid by people found guilty of crimes or infractions. That would include everything from speeding tickets to felonies.

Court officials say the surcharge, which would sunset after five years, is critical to maintain a functioning court system in the wake of a $2 million cut in its general fund appropriation this fiscal year and a 2.5 percent budget holdback that meant another $745,600 cut in revenue. The judicial branch’s fiscal year 2010 appropriation was $30.2 million.

Judges voluntarily agreed to work without pay for two days this year, according to a Supreme Court budget summary. The courts have also frozen hiring, and officials expect to exhaust all dedicated fund balances.

At the same time, civil court filings are up 14 percent statewide this year, including an increase of 15 percent in Kootenai County, 21 percent in Ada County and 31 percent in Ada County.

“The financial crisis will jeopardize the continued operation of the Idaho Courts,” the court’s budget summary said. “The court’s ability to address the growing caseload, and to operate services that help to reduce the burden on the state budget, such as drug courts and mental health courts, will be crippled without adequate funding.”

As in other states, the increase seems linked to the dismal economy, with a jump in complex business and family disputes over the past year, said Patty Tobias, administrative director of the courts. A final breakdown of the numbers won’t be available until next month.

A $15 surcharge would be expected to raise $2.9 million annually based on current court filing and fee collection rates, Tobias said.

“The Supreme Court believes that the emergency surcharge is necessary for the Idaho courts to continue to resolve cases timely, to have judges hearing cases throughout the state, to continue drug courts, to continue its technology efforts to ensure court records are widely available,” she said. “The court costs in Idaho, even with this increase, would remain lower than average court costs in other states.”

The fate of the two revenue-raising proposals in the Legislature remains unclear.

Rep. Jim Clark, chair of the House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee, convened a study group that met this year to address the retirement fund shortfall. The study group proposed the $25 civil filing fee increase, in addition to greater employee contributions and other changes.

Clark said in an interview that it’s still unclear whether there will be the votes in his committee to tackle both issues this year. He said he was concerned that the $15 surcharge would not turn out to be a dependable source of revenue because it may be tough to collect from criminals.

Still, he expected the committee to take some action to bolster the justice system this session.

“You can’t just shut down the courts,” he said.

Idaho attorneys may also be split on fee increases.

Ada County Public Defender Alan Trimming said he’s “not supportive” of the emergency surcharge.

Trimming said he understands why the court would want to collect more from people who break the law. But he said they already face a raft of administrative charges, including fees that subsidize the state law enforcement academy, court technology, county administration, victim funds and other specialized funds. That can add up to a couple hundred dollars even for minor crimes or infractions.

“The courts need to operate, but on the other hand how much blood can you get out of a rock?” he said.

The Idaho State Bar has not yet taken a position on the proposals.

“Considering the severe budgetary challenges facing all sectors of state government, the Idaho judiciary has few options to keep its constitutionally and statutorily mandated operations functioning,” said Dan Black, communications director.