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State of Kansas 
 
Office of Judicial Administration 
Kansas Judicial Center 
 
301 SW 10
 th 
 
Topeka, Kansas 66612-1507 (785) 296
-
2256
 
For Mo
re Information,
 
Contact Ron Keefover 
 
Education
-
Information Officer 
 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 12, 2009
 Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert E. Davis today announced that a legislativemistake in cutting an additional $11 million from the judiciary
s budget may lead to up to 30days of statewide court closures and unpaid furloughs for the court system
s 1,589 nonjudicialemployees in Fiscal Year 2010.Davis sent an electronic copy of a letter to all Judicial Branch employees late Mondayafternoon advising them of the consequences of the $11 million cut, so they could prepare for the possibility of the court closings and furloughs should efforts to correct the shortfall when theLegislature returns in January be unsuccessful.
The chief jus
tice informed employees that the $11 million cut is in addition to a 2.75 percent across
-
the-
 board reduction that was adopted for the other branches of government and
executive branch agencies. He said the cut also is in addition to other cost-
savings mea
sures thathave been taken by the Judicial Branch beginning last November.
We have been told that this additional cut was made in the Senate under the mistakenassumption that the Judicial Branch could raise its own unlimited funding through a surchargeadded to docket fees. In fact, the surcharge approved in earlier legislation is limited in the typesof filings on which it may be assessed and is capped at $10 per fee. There is no way that it cancover the additional cut,
Chief Justice Davis said in his letter to employees.Davis said he had conversations with the governor and several legislators during thewaning hours of the session in an attempt to get the shortfall restored; however, legislators left
of 00

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