Yesterday, Governor McCrory announced his recommended budget for the next two years. It is available here. Any governor’s budget is really just the beginning of a conversation with the General Assembly, so the proposals below may or may not end up in the final budget. Nonetheless, it’s worth looking at the recommended budget to identify some of the issues that are likely to be discussed over the next few weeks or months. A couple of quick disclaimers: I am not an expert at reading budget documents; I am confused by the Justice and Public Safety Line Item Budget, here, which doesn’t seem to incorporate the changes recommended in the main recommended budget, here; and the following list does not include every criminal-justice-related proposal in the recommended budget. So I encourage everyone to take a look at all the released budget documents for a complete picture. Having said that, here are some of the major components of the Governor’s proposal: Cuts to the court system. The Governor would cut $3.5 million from the court system through a “voluntary reduction in force,” would eliminate a $671,000 pass-through appropriation to the State Bar, and would eliminate all funding for the Conference of District Attorneys and the Clerk’s Conference. Additions to the court system. The Governor would appropriate $3.4 million to create drug treatment courts, add $1 million to pay for interpreters, experts, and juror fees, and spend about $727,000 to add 16 magistrate positions in counties that have only three magistrates each. Cuts to [...]
Faculty Coordinators
