New Hampshire judges have been complaining for years that the state�s judicial system is under-funded and understaffed. NHPR�s Raquel Maria Dillon visited the Merrimack County Courthouse to talk to court administrators about how they make do.
McGRAW :07 if you take a look at the stack of files here there�s approx 150 orders waiting to be sent out.
Bill McGraw, clerk of the court at the Merrimack County Courthouse, says the problem is simple: the department is understaffed.
McGRAW :17 Those are the answers to major questions in people�s lives. Each one of those files represents a divorce or a child custody dispute and we do not have the adequate staff to process those orders and send them out to people in a timely order.
The files line shelves, desks, and offices. Similar files are piled up in courthouses around the state.
McGRAW :15 every file here is active, every file has a case that�s been heard and decided.
And those over there?
Those are all active.
The entire wall?
The entire wall, plus 3 shelves in other offices.
This is the Marital Division. The seven administrators here handle divorces, custody disputes, child support payments, and domestic violence cases.
Superior Court hiring is frozen until next July, even for new vacancies. So McGraw tries to spread the pain around the departments.
Court Administrator Suzanne Saltmarsh is an example of the dedicated staff who help get the job done under these circumstances.
SALTMARSH :20 It�s from 8 in the morning 'til 4 and it�s non stop. I�m usually in here about 7 along with deputy clerk and others. And you�re here after 4:30 at night. it�s just non-stop.
Do you get paid overtime?
No.
Do you get a lunch?
Sometimes I do sometimes not.
Saltmarsh is modest about it, but she�s the most senior employee in the state court system. She�s been working for the Superior Court for 30 years.
SALTMARSH :17 you can�t walk in at 2 minutes to 8 and expect to get the work done for the day. There is so much behind the scenes to be done for the day. To make this job run, to make the courts run properly. To make judges have their work ready. You�ve just gotta be here early in the morning to get those things done.
Frontline staff say what�s most frustrating is dealing with the growing number of people who are representing themselves in court. They�re called pro se litigants.
Deputy Clerk Cathy McDonald says this is especially true in the marital division� where the majority of petitions are filed without the help of a lawyer.
McDONALD :19 I have 2 people out front who did nothing all morning except give them forms help them to fill out explain what they have to say, then process it. I think it�s gotten consistently worse, especially over last year or two.
Court administrators are barred from giving legal advice. But Superior Court Chief Justice Walter Murphy says people come to court expecting help.
MURPHY :11 they have expectations that are unrealistic because they see Judge Judy on television and they think that�s the way you try cases.
There seems to be no stopping the trend towards more pro se litigants, or the rising cost of legal representation.
But the courts certainly don�t get any sympathy from the Legislature.
MOCK :04 that�s the price of doing business, that�s the way I look at that.
State Representative Henry Mock of Jackson chairs the House Judiciary Committee:
MOCK :17 if all other branches have to cut back, court does too. Not as serious as they make it out to be. don�t blame everything on a lack of money! Look for other solutions.
According to a recent report from the Administrative Office of the Courts, over 60 positions sit vacant in courthouses across the state. The courts can�t fill them before July, because there�s no money in their budget.
MURPHY :17 because 75% has to do with staff and judges pay and salary and benefits, we have to keep these positions open in order to pay increased postage, medical benefits, all other increases.
Judge Murphy says the budget problems are caused by bad blood between the courts and the legislature.
MURPHY :22 They feel somehow that by cutting our budget, the supreme court is getting their comeuppance for some of the decisions that are unpopular in certain circles. what they don�t understand is that this is having an affect on their constituents.
Representative Mock denies that the tight budget is retribution for the Claremont school funding decision. But he brings up the impeachment of Chief Justice David Brock.
MOCK :11 They can cry all they want. But it showed the state of NH there were shenanigans going on in the court that should never have gone on.
MURPHY :05 They can�t get over that we�re a separate branch, we�re not an agency of state.
Across the lobby in the Criminal Division, the staff is struggling to fulfill the promise of a speedy trial. Again, Clerk of the Court Bill McGraw:
McGRAW :05 THEN FADE UNDER� these are pending criminal cases you see here� each file represents an indictment brought by the county attorney�s office.
Some of those cases are closed, but no one has any time to put the files away. They�ll probably say there for a while... Later today, 500 jurors are scheduled to show up for a first degree murder trial. But the jury coordinator position is vacant. So other employees are bracing themselves and divvying up the extra work.
For N-H-P-R, I�m RMD.
