If you think moving through the court system takes forever now, just wait until next year. With the proposed budget cuts for Minnesota's judicial system, there may be more delays in the process.

"There is no doubt there will be a budget reduction," said First Judicial District Court Judge Terrence Conkel. How much of a reduction and how it will affect the various courts remains to be seen.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty proposed about $9.1 million in cuts for the whole judicial system, with more than $7 million for district courts.

"That would be devastating for us," said Sue Dosal, Minnesota state courts administrator. The 2008-09 appropriation for the judicial branch was $13 million less than projected for employee costs, which meant the judicial branch was "short $13 million out of the chute."

Another area that is currently causing budget problems is mandated services, like interpreters, which cost $1.9 million more than budgeted, she said.

"It is not a pretty picture (for the courts)," said Gerald Winter, First Judicial District court administrator. The biggest problem is going to be delays in moving cases through the court system.

"We have an axiom in this business: Justice delayed is justice denied," he said. "Hopefully, the legislators and governor will see the light."

There are still cuts with the House and Senate proposals, but they are much less. The House is proposing a $3.5 million cut and the Senate is proposing a $4.5 million cut. A conference committee was set up and began working on the bill earlier this month.

"Any cut means reduced services around the state," said Dosal.

The Minnesota Constitution guarantees that all cases are heard "promptly and without delay," she said. "With the cuts, that is in jeopardy."

About 7 percent of the judicial branch's work force is being cut this year through early separation programs and voluntary leave without pay programs, she said. If the governor's proposal passes, another 222 positions, or about 8 percent, of the staff will have to be cut, meaning the judicial branch would lose 15 percent of its staff in one year.

"That could mean delays for tens of thousands of cases," she said.

Those cuts may not necessarily be layoffs, said Winter. They may be achieved through leave without pay programs and holding positions open when staff leaves.

Four people in the First Judicial District have retired early through the early separation programs, and the district has been holding positions open. Winter said out of the 200 court administration positions in the district, there have been 15 open positions at a time.

The business of the courts is inversely related to the economy, said Winter. As the economy goes down, the work load increases.

"It's a 'Catch 22' for the court system," he said.

"We can't close the doors," said Conkel. "We can't say we will not take cases."

"We just have to handle it," said Karen Messner, court administrator for McLeod and Sibley counties. "We used to say, "How can we do more with less?" Now we look at, "What can we no longer do?"

The First Judicial District, which includes Carver, Dakota, Goodhue, LeSueur, McLeod, Scott and Sibley counties, currently has 39 judgeships worth of work, based on weighted case loads, and 36 judges to do the work, said Winter. Of those 36, it currently has one vacancy because of a death of a judge.

The district actually has the lowest staffing level of the state, when looking at the number of people per judgeship of work, he said. The workload also is greater than other areas of the state.

Courts are looking at where they can save, said Messner. They have always been proactive about keeping costs down, But they do not control their work load.

The biggest jump in court cases in McLeod and Sibley counties is in civil and family cases, which went up about 18 percent to 19 percent, she said.

Messner is being shared between Sibley and McLeod counties while the district is deciding how to permanently handle court administration in McLeod County. Its court administrator resigned earlier this year.

Conkel said the decision was made to share Messner to save the state money before the current budget issues surfaced. The decision on the permanent position will probably be made in August.

"I think it is going well," Messner said of her shared position. "I have to adjust to things not getting done as fast as if I were doing only one, but I don't think it has harmed either place in any way."

She said people are still getting the service they need, but seeing her in person does not always happen. Communication often takes alternate methods, like e-mail.

The state took over funding for McLeod County in 2005, and Messner said good things came from that, even with the current budget issues. The biggest benefit has been the uniformity across the state at the district court level.

"If we were funded by the county, there could still be cuts," she said.

When asked if any courts will be shutting down, Dosal said the judicial branch is looking at how many court locations it can afford. Depending on where the budget cuts actually fall, low volume or suburban satellite courts may be affected.

She said Washington County has already announced it will be closing its satellite court in Cottage Grove.

"We are not pushing the panic button," said Conkel. "But we are pretty wary of how this (budget cuts) will affect us."