The budget approved by the General Assembly Saturday provides money for unfreezing only five extra judgeships, in additional to the 15 proposed in the Gov. Bob McDonnell’s proposal.
Earlier this month, the House and Senate introduced budget plans that were far more generous to the judiciary. The House proposed filling an extra 17 judgeships and the Senate plan offered 11 more hires than the governor’s budget.
Under the budget passed Saturday, Fairfax County, Loudoun County and Virginia Beach each would get to fill one circuit court vacancy. Arlington County would be eligible for a new general district judge, and Martinsville and nearby counties could get a replacement juvenile and domestic relations judge.
Funding for those positions is in addition to the money for 15 judgeships in the governor’s proposed budget amendments.
The fact that a caseload study remains ongoing may have contributed to the reduced funding for judges, said Hugh Fain, president of the Virginia Bar Association, which lobbied for judicial funding.
Filling only 20 vacancies out of 48 is “very disappointing and will continue to strain our court system in 2013,” Fain said in an email.
The Assembly will likely elect judges to fill some or all of the funded vacancies when it returns for its “veto session” in April.
Source: http://valawyersweekly.com/vlwblog/2013/02/24/assembly-trims-judge-funding-plans/
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