Trial court assistants

It's fairly well known that one of the fiscal issues that has been at the forefront this year is the revenue shortage in the Administration of Justice Fund to pay the state's trial court assistants. Here in Arkansas, the court of general jurisdiction is the circuit court, and each of the 120 circuit judges in the state employs an assistant to facilitate the caseload that is assigned to that judge. The Administration of Justice Fund has shrunk significantly in the past several sessions for a lot of reasons, and it's obvious that this funding issue won't go away with a quick fix.

It appears as though the governor and his staff have been working diligently with the judiciary, and a short term agreement for a supplemental appropriation looks to be in place so long as a permanent fix to the Administration of Justice Fund can be considered in 2013. That looks to be in the works, and a comprehensive bill has already been drafted for the 2013 session. Absent this supplemental appropriation, furloughs would apparently take place to the trial court assistants. It appears that that drastic measure will be averted.