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JUDICIARY 


                            Adjusted        Executive      Legislative                       
                             Approp.          Request          Approp.
                             2000-01          2001-02          2001-02    Change


STATE OPERATIONS
  General Fund         1,429,152,682    1,491,986,161    1,492,486,161   500,000 
  Special Rev.-Fed.        8,613,651        4,000,000        4,000,000         0 
  Special Rev.-Other      57,722,608       65,888,656       65,888,656         0 
  Total for 
  STATE OPERATIONS:    1,495,488,941    1,561,874,817    1,562,374,817   500,000 

AID TO LOCALITIES
  General Fund               775,000          500,000          850,000   350,000 
  Special Rev.-Other      59,318,556       84,768,898       84,768,898         0 
  Total for 
  AID TO LOCALITIES:      60,093,556       85,268,898       85,618,898   350,000 

  Capital Projects Fund    7,775,000       35,825,000       35,825,000         0 
  Total for 
  CAPITAL PROJECTS:        7,775,000       35,825,000       35,825,000         0

Agency Mission

The New York State Courts are established and administered as an independent branch of government pursuant to Article VI of the State Constitution. The cost of operating the courts (excluding town and village courts) is borne by the State pursuant to the Unified Court Budget Act. The mission of the Unified Court System is to promote the rule of law and to serve the public by providing just and timely resolution of all matters before the courts. The New York State Judiciary carries out its mission through eleven different trial courts, known as courts of original jurisdiction, as well as through its intermediate appellate courts and its highest court, the Court of Appeals.

Year-to-Year Change

The Chief Judge recommends an All Funds appropriation of $1,682,986,715 in State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2001-2002, an increase of $119,611,218 or 7.7 percent from SFY 2000-01.

Legislative Proposals

The Assembly supports an increase in the rates paid to assigned counsel pursuant to Article 18-b of the County Law, an increase in the rates paid to law guardians in the Family Court and related changes to improve the public defense and family court representation systems. The rates paid to assigned counsel and law guardians have not been raised since 1986, are now among the lowest in the nation and have resulted in a severe shortage of qualified attorneys available to handle such cases. Among other harmful impacts, this severe shortage is effectively denying victims of domestic violence and children who are the subject of family court proceedings the full range of protection they are entitled to under our justice system.

To meet this need, the Assembly has joined with the Senate and the Governor in a bi-partisan task force to develop a plan to increase assigned counsel and law guardian rates and make related improvements in these systems. The Assembly believes such changes should be enacted during the current legislative session, should include provisions for state assistance to support rate increases and should be the product of a budget agreement which provides support from the Governor, the Senate and the Assembly. The Assembly recognizes that any task force agreement which meets these goals will require additional budget action by the Governor and the Legislature during the current legislative session to be fully implemented. The Assembly stands ready to join with the Governor and the Senate in taking such additional budget action.

The Assembly adds $350,000 for the City-Wide Task Force on Housing Court, an organization that provides information, advocacy and referrals to people in danger of losing their housing.

The Assembly adds $500,000 additional funding for training of Drug Court personnel.


JUDICIAL & DRUG COURT TRAINING - ADDITIONAL FUNDING.
CITY-WIDE TASK FORCE ON HOUSING COURT. 		$500,000
$350,000 		ST/GEN
ATL/GEN