The lack of a budget has forced state court officials to order judges to stay home.
North Carolina's elected Superior Court judges rotate on a circuit every six months. The idea is to avoid favoritism that might result from having a permanent judge in one district
Administrative Office of the Courts Director John W. Smith has suspended the rotation and ordered judges to stay in their home judicial districts. Smith told judicial department employees in a memo that the agency has been granted enough money to make payroll for July. It has no guarantees beyond that.
Our circumstances continue to deteriorate and the uncertainty about our future becomes more problematical for us each day that passes without a budget from the General Assembly.
Smith said the court system will also begin to ration supplies. He urged employees to use e-mail instead of paper when possible.
"Shipments and deliveries may be delayed depending upon the availability of funds or the ingenuity of our employees to arrange for the deliveries," he wrote.
Other measures to cope with the budget crisis include:
* Court-ordered fees for witnesses and experts will be paid, but may be delayed, Smith said.
* Lawyers appointed to represent children in court proceedings may see payments interrupted.
* Smith urged employees to avoid unnecessary travel.
Document(s):
Budget Memo July 9 2009.pdf
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Re: State judges have to stay home
It is just weird that N.C. has that law. i guess that is why they also have judges down there that don't listen to the cases they just rubber stamp the case and send them off. They really need to keep the same judges in there because to me it seems stupid to rotate them. I have never heard of any other states that do that. having a case thrown out three times by one judge and then when they rotate judges the judge just rubber stamps the case and sends them away. What kind of judicial system are we living in?????