Maine chief justice's statement on the budget

June 1, 2009

Maine: As the state of Maine is undergoing the final stages of budget review, chief justice Leigh Ingalls Saufley had this to say about the Judicial Branch's part of the budget: "Legislative leadership said it best: this is not a budget any one can be happy about." She suggests that staffing restrictions in the coming year will be felt by the public in reduced court hours and delays in non priority dockets. She called the budget process valuable however, citing the hard work of the Appropriations Committee and the Judiciary Committee, and bipartisan support for improvements to several older courthouses.