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County could get more judges Statewide, 15 are sought, and Jackson County tops the list Oregon�s courts will ask for money to hire 15 new judges to deal with a growing number of court cases when the 2001 Legislature gets under way in January. That�s good news for Jackson County, which is ranked first and third on a judicial priority list backed by the state Supreme Court. The judgeships are proposed in the two-year budget request that Chief Justice Wallace Carson will present to state legislators. The request also proposes money for juvenile court referees and temporary judges equal to six positions. According to state Sen. Lenn Hannon, R-Ashland, Gov. John Kitzhaber will make the proposal Friday. "At this point in time, it�s difficult to say what the governor is going to propose," Hannon said, adding that Kitzhaber could decide not to ask for any of the judgeships, as he did in 1999. The governor could also decide to scale back on that figure, he added. District 50 Rep. Rob Patridge, R-Medford, is optimistic that the county will receive at least one new judge position but doesn�t think that all 15 positions can be funded statewide, despite the need. The cost is just too high, he said, at $75,000 per judge. "We have been advancing, and were very close to getting a judge in the last session," Patridge said. "We�ve been waiting for judges in Jackson County for quite some time." Jackson County received one judge position in 1995, which was the first in 20 years despite the area�s population of 172,800 and projected growth. In 1997, local judges handled 32 percent more cases (2,111) than were handled statewide on average. (1,432). The courts requested 16 new judgeships and supporting staff for the trial courts two years ago, but the 1999 Legislature budgeted nothing. They asked for 11 judgeships in 1997, and the Legislature approved three positions � one each in Marion, Polk and Multnomah counties. Vernon Gleaves, a Eugene lawyer who heads a joint study committee of the Oregon State Bar and the courts, says if the Legislature doesn�t approve the funding, the time before cases come to trial will increase substantially. In Jackson County, civil cases have been backlogged for as long as two years before coming to trial. In 1999, civil litigation in Jackson County took over an average of 696 days to come to trial, compared to 401 days statewide. A 12-member panel reviews requests from the courts for additional judgeships, temporary judges and juvenile court referees. Its recommendations are based partly on a study of caseloads by the National Center for State Courts, which in the past seven years has conducted similar studies in 11 other states. Carson�s request is not subject to control by Kitzhaber, although he can push for it in his own budget proposal. The Legislature has the final say. "Is it likely that we will get all of what we ask for? The answer is probably not," Carson said. "The Legislature�s job is to control the purse strings." Hannon, who is co-chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, said the Legislature will finding ways to fund the proposed judges in mid-January. He hopes to see the county awarded a judge and feels the proposal will have plenty of backers. "It�s certainly something that our entire delegation is on board is support of it," Hannon said. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.