Superior court budget 'not up for further review'
By Debbie Lowe Staff writer

Carroll County Council met Friday for a second day of 2009 budget hearings. Judges from both courts were among the department heads to present 2009 spending requests. One of the two was adamant there would be no reductions to his requests.

Carroll Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Smith, who is running unopposed for another six years in office this fall, presented his spending plan to the council and indicated he is not willing to negotiate line item increases. He explained salary increase requests were based on what court employees would have made had they been given raises for the past five years, plus a raise for 2009. He said all spending requests were based on five years' expenditures. The budget request amount was $18,606 more than was appropriated in the 2008 amended budget.

Council member Carl Abbott said there would be no more income for the county to spend in 2009 than there was in 2008. He said the council did not chastise any department by not granting line item increases, however all requests could not be filled.

"That's my only response," he said.

Smith said the goal for the home-detention program was to be self-sufficient, however an income reduction is expected for the fund because neighboring counties are no longer using and paying for Carroll County services. He said a personnel shift as a result of attrition would help the program's financial situation.

Circuit court judge Donald Currie, after presenting a circuit court budget which was $25,816 more than the 2008 appropriation, was questioned about the need for the level of public defender and indigent counsel spending request from joint courts.

"Are we making a good attempt to determine if people really deserve a public defender?" asked Ann Brown.

Currie said defendants swear under oath and their word had to be taken as truth. He added however that he questions them when he believes a full accounting of their resources was not given.

The total requested, including increases, for the public defender position funded through joint courts was $85,970, $15,000 for the indigent counsel/part-time and $77,000 for additional pauper counsel. The total increase for joint courts from the 2008 amended appropriated budget was $145,778.62.

Currie said there were plans to re-establish a Public Defender Council, which would provide 40 percent reimbursement of the cost of public defenders hired if requirements were met. (According to the Indiana Public Defender Commission Non-Capital Reimbursements chart located on the Web site, http://www.in.gov/judiciary/ pdc/, dated June 26, 2008, Carroll County received $134,854 in public defender cost reimbursement from the state, beginning in 2001 until the county public defender commission was dissolved in 2006.)

A public defender commission board would be established to set the salaries for public defenders among other duties which include standard and program requirement adherence and monitoring. Currie said two of the threemember board would be appointed by the judges and one by county commissioners.

Ashby asked Currie to review "substantial hardship standards" as adopted by the Indiana Public Defender Commission. He said the standards were developed to guide judges to make more informed decisions about which defendants qualify for the taxpayer-funded free service.

"We have borrowed $1.3 million this year," Ashby said. "I'm really concerned about making it all work."

Brown questioned Currie about the significant raises for both courts' employees. Currie requested a $6,164 raise in salary for the chief court reporter in circuit court, a $5,362 increase for the deputy reporter and a $4,540 increase for the bailiff in circuit court. The probation secretary's salary request increased approximately $5,898.

"We depend on taxpayers to fund these things," she said. "Some of them have not had raises either."

"How can you ask people to do that?" she added.

Currie responded that good and competent court reporters are leaving. He said the court bailiff "is making just over minimum wage."

Currie agreed to match the zero appropriation in the 2008 amended budget for per diem petit jurors, per diem/grand jurors, jurors meals and lodging and jury postage, thereby reducing the request increase to $114,278.62.

It should be noted each court has a separate budget and the two judges manage the joint courts budget together.

The council will meet in regular session Aug. 21 at 8 a.m.