The wheels of justice came to a halt Friday as budget problems at the state level forced the Kansas Supreme Court to order the closure of courtrooms across the state.
Friday was the first of four scheduled mandatory furlough days for court staff.
Douglas County’s judges still reported to work, but without court reporters and support staff, the majority of hearings had to be postponed.
Essential hearings, such as first appearances for defendants in criminal cases and juvenile detention hearings, still went on as scheduled.
It also was an inconvenience for anyone scheduled to appear in traffic court Friday, starting at 8:30 a.m.
Those hearings had to be rescheduled for another day, and traffic court normally scheduled for Fridays will not be held on any of the future furlough dates.
The court trustee's office and the district attorney's office were not affected by the furloughs because they are county employees.
The courts, including the court clerk's office, also will be closed next Friday and on April 23 and May 7.
Comments
yankeevet 7 years, 2 months ago
There is money for the sporting events games; and salaries; but no money for the court system??? Whats up with this???
Stuart Evans 7 years, 2 months ago
If only there were a handful of ridiculous laws on the books that could be removed which would cost our society so much less money...
compmd 7 years, 2 months ago
I wonder how the right to a speedy trial will play into this.
Alexander Neighbors 7 years, 2 months ago
HAhahahahaha there is no right to a speedy trial just look at Guy and Carrie neighbors owners of the yellow house store they have been waiting for a trail for the last 5 years 4 months.
Richard Payton 7 years, 2 months ago
Yankeevet maybe the court system could charge admission for the spectators and provide a point system for seating!
nobody1793 7 years, 2 months ago
How about every saturday is "no highway patrol" day.
SettingTheRecordStraight 7 years, 2 months ago
Perhaps these small cuts to government spending will help more Kansans realize that there are massive costs associated with operating our country's bloated federal, state and local governments.
Thinking_Out_Loud 7 years, 2 months ago
There's more to it than that, g_rock. A court case has administrative activities associated with it. Just because a jury starts working at 9 or leaves around 4, or gets time for lunch, doesn't mean the judge isn't in her chambers and the clerk in his office working on the case. Starting at 8, working 'til noon, 45-60 minutes for lunch (which assumes the restaurant the jurors go to actually is on-schedule), and closing down at 5 would require a lot of overtime on staff's part.
Stephen Roberts 7 years, 2 months ago
Maybe an idea would be make as many people as possible salaried employees so you don't have to pay overtime
trinity 7 years, 2 months ago
there is no such thing as "overtime" pay for court staff, commuter.
Commenting has been disabled for this item.