“These new funding cuts will mean more staff reductions, as well as continued reduction of services to the public and to legal practitioners,” said State Count Administrator Sue Dosal in a written summary of legislative outcomes for this session.

“The courts are constitutionally mandated to provide a speedy resolution to disputes and criminal cases, but fewer staff will no doubt result in greater delays,” she said.

Mower County Court administrator Patty Ball said her office is down one staff person in the criminal/juvenile/traffic section, which she predicts will likely slow response time, particularly as various staff take unpaid leave in efforts to stay further layoffs.

“We are trying the best we can,” Ball said by e-mail. “I know that staff here are feeling the extra pressure and stress of trying to keep up.”

According to Dosal, the courts are also anticipating cuts to mandated services, such as interpreters, psychological exams and jury trials, in addition to increased delays in small-claims, or conciliation, cases and traffic matters.

The cuts imposed this session were less than the 4 percent, or $9 million, decrease Gov. Tim Pawlenty proposed as state government grappled with a $935 million budget deficit.

“We are grateful that the Legislature has significantly lessened the cuts originally proposed by the governor,” Dosal wrote.

At the time, the court administration system was already adjusting personnel and services because of the $13 million reduction in state monies the year before. Across the Third Judicial District, which includes, Mower County, Olmsted County and nine others in the southeast region, administration cut one morning from office schedules each week, imposed layoffs and failed to fill vacancies.

At the time, Mower County court administrator Patty Ball said the third district was down 20 positions, or about 13 percent of its work force.

Statewide, offices are 200 people short, said John Kostouros, director of the State Court Information Office, who added that if the governor’s proposal had been passed, 200 more would have been lost.

Currently, district courts are working on ways to best manage workload with smaller staffs and resources.

According to Shelley Ellefson, administrator for the Third Judicial District, officials will meet June 18 to determine whether and where to shift workloads from overburdened district courts, whether to centralize select tasks, what minimum staff requirements for each district office are and what they together should prioritize in terms of criminal and conciliation proceedings.

“This will be able equalizing workload between the 11 counties,” she said.

“Some of this we’ll be able to do at an administrative level, and some of this we may have to do with the judges,” she said.

It will be the first of several meeting this summer, she said.