In anticipation of a budget cut, the Massachusetts court system is preparing to lay off and furlough workers while merging district courts and shedding leased space.
The House and Senate are currently trying to reconcile differences between their budgets, including a $15 million discrepancy in funding for the trial court. The Senate set trial court funding at $544 million, while the House went with $529 million. Both numbers are well below this year’s funding level of $559 million and could go lower still if federal funding included in both the House and Senate budgets is not forthcoming.
Robert A. Mulligan, chief justice for administration and management at the trial court, said the prospect of layoffs and furloughs is disheartening. He noted that court staff has already been reduced by nearly 10 percent to 6,876 over the last two years through attrition. He said many divisions of the court are operating at less than 75 percent of the recommended staffing level.
“We have many courts out there that are woefully understaffed,” he said.
Mulligan and other top court officials are also reviewing the recommendations of a committee set up to look for ways to consolidate some of the state’s 103 courthouses or move court personnel out of leased space. A statement issued today said planning is already underway to move the law library in Norfolk County out of private leased space into the Norfolk Country Registry of Deeds.
A source familiar with the committee’s recommendations said other options under consideration include moving the state’s Land Court, which is currently operating in leased space at 226 Causeway St., to the Suffolk County Courthouse.
Another proposal would have the administrative offices of the trial court move out of leased space at 2 Center Plaza and into the nearby John Adams Courthouse at an estimated savings of $1.6 million, the source said.
The House earlier had approved a budget amendment that would have moved the court’s administrative offices to the Charlestown District Court. The House, which has been at odds with Mulligan over management of the courts and the state’s probation service, had estimated the move to Charlestown would save about $3 million.
Other consolidation suggestions, according to the source, include relocating the Westborough District Court to the Worcester District Court, the Gloucester District Court to the Salem District Court, and the Hingham District Court to the Brockton District Court. The source had no additional details but said many other consolidations are being discussed.
Any court closings are likely to stir controversy. “Courts are anchors in communities,” Mulligan said. “They’re little economic engines.”
The statement issued today said the court system has funds to relocate six courthouses this coming year. It also said public hearings will be held on whatever consolidations are eventually recommended.
