Budget discussion re
44th District Court

The budget for the 44th District Court was on the agenda of CITCOM's 29 May 2008 budget meeting. The discussion which followed the opening statement of Court Administrator Kevin Sutherland is summarized elsewhere in VersagiVoice. Below is the full text from which Sutherland read. In his email accompanying the text, the Court Administrator emphasized: 

The court is a separate branch of government. The court is the only entity in government that is constitutionally mandated to perform its task. The court cannot, by law, lay off people if it would impede the constitutional rights of the people to have access to the court. 

 Budget Meeting – 5/29/08 

Good evening Honorable Mayor and City Commissioners.  I’m here tonight together with  the Judges of the 44^th District Court ready to answer any questions you may have concerning our 2008-09 proposed budget.

I always begin my presentation by stating what all of you already know but for the sake of all the viewers who are watching this telecast,  let me just repeat it once more.  The 44^th District Court is NOT a department of the City of Royal Oak but rather, an equal branch of government mandated by the constitution.

I think it is a wonderful compliment to all the citizens of Royal Oak who elect the Judges for the 44^th District Court that since the city was established in 1921, 87 years ago, we have only had 10 Judges serving in this court.  That fact alone speaks volumes about the character of the Judges who have been elected in this great city. 

Our budget for 2008-09 is once again a status quo budget with the only increases being created not by the court but by contract or health and retirement costs.  These increases totaled about $120,000 in the court budget and approximately $25,000 in the probation budget.  

Whether they can be offset by additional revenues only time will tell but last years budget was also higher than the year before for the same reasons but revenues also rose over $300,000.   In fact, since the District Court has been in their new courthouse 2001, the court has turned over to the general fund over $5,000,000 over and above any expenses incurred by the city.  Now someone can quibble about $500 here or $2,000 there, but the clear fact is that the 44^th District Court has been a good partner with the City of Royal Oak and many millions of dollars have been transferred to the general fund of the City of Royal because of the hard work by the 44^th District Court Judges, Judge Sawicki and Judge Brennan, employees, probation department and the Royal Oak Police Department.

I’m stating these facts because the court is aware of the financial pressures the city is facing in the coming years and is truly trying to work with the city and the police department in keeping costs down as much as possible.  The court is also aware of its constitutional responsibilities as an independent branch of government to offer its citizens a fair, safe and impartial place to conduct their business in a timely manner.  As Circuit Court Judge Kolenda stated in 2002, “some services cannot be cut like others.  The courts are an example. As noted earlier herein, safety and public welfare depend upon the courts functioning at satisfactory levels”. 

Appeals Court Judge Brian Zahra stated in 2005 and I quote, “The funding for the trial courts is not a bargained-for-exchange subject to contract principles, but is a statutory obligation for the funding units and a constitutional right for the courts”. 

The 44^th District Court continues to comply with its constitutional responsibility despite the fact that its caseload is one of the busiest of all 2 Judge courts in the State of Michigan.  And we do this with the same 20 fulltime employees we had in 2001.  To give you yardstick with how to measure other 2 Judge courts, Livonia has 31 employees, Westland, 35 employees, Oak Park, 23, Clarkston, 24, Waterford, 30 and Farmington, 35 employees.  All of these courts have far fewer caseloads than we do and yet we still do it with only 20 employees. 

Last year I reported that our collection program generated over $300,000 in additional revenue from overdue tickets from past years.  In 2007 again this Collect Program generated added revenue, this time $387.000.  We are very proud of another fact that makes the 44^th District Court so special and should be of special interest to you.  The Supreme Court issued a memo on May 15, 2008 letting the courts in the State know how well they are doing on collections. 

The average court collection rate for parking tickets in the Metropolitan area (6 county area) is 75%; our rate is 83%.  The average rate for traffic tickets is 84%, our rate is 92%.; the average for drunk driving cases is 84%, our rate is 95%, and the average for all misdemeanors was 85%, the 44^th District Court’s average was 97.4%.  And many of these courts have a fulltime collection employee while we still use a part-time seasonal employee.

Our Probation Department continues to work in close cooperation the City of Royal Oak.  Rather than send non-violent probationers to jail, the Judges assign them Community Service.  They clean the Boys and Girls Club on a daily basis saving the city thousands of dollars in janitorial costs, they pick up leaves in the city parks in the fall, they clean out the grates on city sidewalks and continually pick up trash around the city. 

I am proud of the 44^th District Court and I know that the citizens feel the same way.  Now if you have any questions concerning the Court or Probation budgets, I will be glad to answer them.