Judicial officers and court staff presented budget requests to the commissioners that include a mix of personnel and technology changes and a request to raise pay for court reporters to align with paralegal pay.

Circuit court budget: the circuit judge said his court will seek a smaller overall request than last year because a previously approved third court‑reporter position was not filled; he asked instead for increased part‑time hours, additional funds for psych evaluations and other professional services, and a modest increase to cover remote‑appearance phone lines. He also asked that court reporters — who now perform paralegal and e‑filing tasks across the courts — be paid at parity with prosecutors’ paralegals.

Prosecutor and IT concerns: the county prosecutor reported rising costs for the office’s Laserfiche electronic‑records system and said the vendor plans to end server‑based support and move users to a cloud platform. The office has budgeted an increase from $5,000 to $10,000 in the deferral/records fund to cover a potential migration and service‑agreement changes. The prosecutor also described a security incident where an individual associated with a defendant accessed court computers; he urged improved IT account‑management, limits on third‑party access and a county‑wide IT security review.

Why it matters: court operations are both service‑level and legal‑deadline sensitive (e.g., appellate notices). The courts said staffing, reliable remote‑appearance tools and secure digital records are critical to meet obligations and deadlines.

Next steps: commissioners heard the requests and asked staff for more detailed cost estimates and clarification of funding sources (general fund, deferral funds, grants). No formal appropriations were approved at the meeting.

Ending: commissioners and staff asked for follow‑up detail on the Laserfiche cloud migration costs, the court‑reporter pay parity proposal and security controls for access to court systems.