The Coronavirus: How are Courts Coping with the Crisis?: Thursday, June 11, 2020 Episode

Budget Strategies: What Have We Learned from the Lockdown?

About three weeks ago, May 14, 2020, the financial crisis was looming, but the details were still vague. Since then several courts have been forced to begin budget cuts that have included layoffs and furloughs. Yet even now all we can say about the national situation is, it remains fluid. Dread over the upcoming economic statistics turned to excitement on Friday, June 5th as the unemployment numbers were better than expected. Still, unemployment remains well above the highest numbers seen during the 2008 recession. What do we know now after several weeks have gone by? Have courts adapted their plans to the changing economic situation?

This week panelists are asked a question by listener Jeff Barlow on the difference between the “thin the soup” and the “ration the soup” strategies for court budget reductions. The panel also talks about how to manage through layoffs and employee furloughs; charging for establishing time payment schedules; extending those schedules out to help defendants through the recession; coping with an expected increase in default judgments, landlord-tenant disputes, and home foreclosures; finally panelists predict what the next 12 months will hold for the courts.

This Week’s Panelists

Zenell Brown, Court Administrator for the 3^rd Circuit Court (Detroit, Michigan)
Mark Weinberg, Court Administrator for the 7^th Judicial Circuit (Daytona Beach, Florida).
Angie VanSchoick, Court Administrator for the Municipal Court in Breckenridge, Colorado.
Liz Rambo, Trial Court Administrator for the Lane County Circuit Court, (Eugene, Oregon).
Rick Pierce with the Pennsylvania Administrative Office of the Courts.
Chris Gaddis, Court Administrator for the Pierce County Superior Court (Tacoma, Washington).
Mike Roddy, Court Executive Office for the Superior Court in San Diego, California.
Listener Question from Jeff Barlow

Listen to the Episode

Submit a question or comment at CLAPodcast@nacmnet.org

Do You Want to Learn More?

The Link to the article States Unlikely to Raise Taxes Amid Pandemic

Published by Peter C. Kiefer

Peter C. Kiefer is a career court veteran with over 40 years experience working with trial courts in Oregon, Arizona, and California. He has been an administrator in general jurisdiction and limited jurisdiction trial courts; he has also worked for state court administrative offices in both Oregon and California. He has consulted with the judicial systems in Liberia, Moldova, and Beirut, Lebanon, as well as being a member of a NACM delegation that visited the People’s Republic of China. Peter graduated from Santa Clara University with his bachelor’s degree in Political Science, and received his Masters of Public Administration with a specialty in Court Administration from the University of Southern California. In 2016 he became a Fellow of the Institute for Court Management. In 2015 Peter was given the NACM Award of Merit. View all posts by Peter C. Kiefer