A number of local court cases may have to be rescheduled because of temporary furloughs ordered within the district court system.
Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Lawton Nuss said Wednesday judicial district offices — including the Allen County District Court clerk’s office — will close every other Friday starting April 13, affecting about 1,500 employees statewide.
The closings are necessary because legislators failed to approve a $1.4 million supplemental appropriation for the judicial branch, Nuss said in a press release.
Magistrate Judge Thomas Saxton typically hears small claims filings on Fridays, while District Court Judge Daniel Creitz hears either civil or criminal cases on those days.
In addition to April 13, the district court offices will be closed on April 27, May 11 and 25 and June 8.
“This impasse creates an operational dilemma for the state court system because without the supplemental appropriation, we do not have enough money to make our payroll through the end of the fiscal year,” Nuss said. “And as of (Wednesday), we have no assurance we will have that appropriation to operate through the end of this fiscal year.”
The furloughs mean court employees will lose roughly 10 percent of their salaries through June 8, Nuss said.
Ten full-time employees will be affected in Allen County, including probation officers and the two judges.
