Housing Court Funding

I recently had the opportunity to attend a Judicial Forum of the Housing Court where the panel consisted of five Housing Court judges.  As its name implies, the Forum was geared specifically toward the Housing Court and the challenges and trends facing the Housing Court over the last year.  The judges discussed some interesting issues about hoarding and certain court rules which need to be updated.  However, Chief Justice Steven D. Pierce's discussion regarding  the funding of the Court was eye-opening and alarming.    In 2008, the Legislature approved a substantial budget cut for the Housing Court.  Each year since 2008 the budget has increased; however, the 2013 budget is still smaller than 2007 and earlier – and the number of cases filed has increased over that time period.  Moreover, the Housing Court has lost a considerable number of employees due to retirement, death, or otherwise, but has only been able to replace employees deemed essential such as clerk-magistrates.  Unfortunately, the budget cuts and staffing challenges are not unique to the Housing Court, but instead are merely representative of across the board spending cuts within the judicial branch of government. 

Even under the best of circumstances, litigation can be long and expensive.  This past year, we have started to explain to clients that the cases will be even longer.  We now regularly explain the effect that fewer personnel has on their case. We see the effects of these budget cuts every day.  Cases are moving more slowly, decisions are taking longer, and clerks are overburdened.  The courts are doing the best under the circumstances, but the wheels of justice seem to be moving  more slowly than we would like.