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player ready...A staggered furlough program for court reporters in Lake County Circuit Court is scheduled to begin Tuesday, as local officials start implementing measures to address a state budget shortfall that remains unresolved.
Chief Judge John Phillips said Monday he is reluctantly starting the furlough program as he works to mitigate both the “human toll” and operational problems the budget crisis will cause the 19th Judicial Circuit.
Money for court reporters will basically run out March 31, unless the governor and state lawmakers agree to a fix. Several other state services and programs are also in the same situation.
Phillips said the furloughs are an attempt to stave off layoffs and stretch remaining funding as far as it will go before the start of the new fiscal year in July, if it comes to that.
Under the furlough plan, Phillips said half of the local court’s 21 court reporters will work three days on and two days off for one week, while the other half works two days on and three off. The schedule will alternate back and forth, week to week.
Chief judges across the state are supposed to submit a plan to address the court reporter funding shortfall to the Illinois Supreme Court by this Friday.
Even with the furloughs, which Phillips acknowledged will be a major hardship for the reporters, the chief judge said the felony courts will not be able to run at full steam.
“With only half of the court reporters, we will not be able to cover all of the felony courtrooms,” Phillips said. “It’s going to affect trials, pleas, the jail — it’s like dominoes.”
Other counties are also implementing furlough programs and some have announced plans for layoffs to begin April 1, Phillips said.
Gov. Bruce Rauner appeared to offer some hope that the court reporter crisis could be avoided through negotiations with state legislative leaders in his budget address last month.
“Court reporters will start missing payroll next month, threatening to grind our justice system to a halt,” Rauner said in his address. “Let’s keep our courtrooms open.”
But Phillips said Monday he has heard nothing in the way of good news from state officials. He said he is calling local legislators, but added that the key to a deal seems to hinge on the state’s top leadership.
“It’s fluid,” Phillips said of the situation.
State Sen. Melinda Bush, D-Grayslake, said she and two other lawmakers are scheduled to meet with Rauner Wednesday morning, and that she plans to bring up the budget and the court reporter issue at that meeting.
“At this point, we’re still waiting to hear if the governor is going to be willing to compromise on any of this,” Bush said. She urged court reporters and other court employees to call the governor’s office and “let them know the impact this is having on court reporters and the impact it is having on the courts.”
Phillips and Tammy Bumgarner, director of the state’s Court Reporting Service division, said the problem initially stemmed from last year’s budget, when the legislature changed the funding mechanism for court reporters.
Previously, funding for the state’s court reporters came exclusively from the state’s General Revenue Fund. Last year, the funding was split between that fund and the Personal Property Tax Replacement Fund.
Phillips said restrictions tied to the Personal Property Tax Replacement Fund have created a roughly $17 million shortfall for the benefits and salaries of court reporters, who did not receive a raise under the new budget.
Phillips said the problem was an “unintentional consequence” discovered last year that was expected to be addressed during the legislator’s fall veto session, but was not.
Court reporters are mandated by law to be present during felony cases and child custody cases, and are made available when possible for civil cases.
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