FY19 BUDGET TRANSMITTAL LETTER 2-8-18.PDF

SUPERIOR COURT OF ARIZONA
COUNTY OF MARICOPA
Old Courthouse
Janet E. Barton 125 West Washington, 5th Floor
Presiding Judge Phoenix, Arizona 85003
Office (602) 506-5340
February 8, 2018
Ms. Cindy Goelz, Budget Director
Maricopa County Budget Office
301 W. Jefferson St., 10t h Floor
Phoenix, Arizona 85003
RE: Judicial Branch Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2019
Dear Ms. Goelz:
1 hereby submit the Judicial Branch's FY 2019 budget request. This request includes the Superior
Court, Adult Probation, and Juvenile Probation departments. Our budget request covers the
Branch's current operational needs and its new and emerging growth requirements. We believe
this budget is both sound and pragmatic.
The Branch continues to be grateful for the camaraderie and support of the Maricopa County
Board of Supervisors, County Manager Joy Rich, and the County's management team. We are
very aware of the invaluable role the Supervisors, Ms. Rich, and the County management team
play in assuring the Judicial Branch for Maricopa County maintains its status as one of the most
innovative, efficient, and well-respected Branches in the nation.
This letter highlights the primary operating budgets for each of the Branch's departments by
identifying risks and opportunities, as well as needs for additional funding. We also identify
instances in which we have chosen to utilize special revenue funds to cover one-time expenses
and offset operating costs. Using these funds for certain ongoing operating costs works for the
upcoming year. However we will need to reassess, annually, this use of special revenue funds to
ensure that ongoing operating costs are, to every extent possible, covered by a recurring revenue
source. Subsequent to our initial budget submission, our newly appointed Budget and Finance
Director conducted an in depth review of our financial operations and specifically, the use of

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special revenue funds. As a result, we determined sufficient fund balances and revenue existed
to cover the requests below. Thus we are withdrawing these requests from our FY19 budget
submission.
Software Upgrade for Branch's Electronic Recording System $700,000
Three (3) Bailiff Positions $135,000
In summary, the Judicial Branch requests the Board adopt a budget of $281,649,401 for FY19 as
noted below:
Baseline Above Baseline Total
Superior Court
General Fund: $88,641,879 $1,570,000 $90,211,879
Adult Probation Department
General Fund: $56,257,927 $838,973 $57,096,900
Detention Fund: $35,577,381 $961,752 $36,539,133
Juvenile Probation Department
General Fund: $18,005,316 $0 $18,005,316
Detention Fund: $35,931,997 ($1,119,841) $34,812,156
Capital Fund $0 $6,000,000 $6,000,000
Total (General, Detention
And Capital) $234,414,500 $8,250,884 $242,665,384
Use of Special Revenue,
Fees, Grants $38,984,017
Total (All Funds) $234,414,500 $8,250,884 $281,649,401
General and Detention Fund Baseline: Total Requested — $234,414,500
1. Superior Court — areas of note in this budget include:
• Contract court interpreters — we have and continue to see cost increases in this
area because of our increased need for lesser used language (LUL) interpretation.
For FY18, we forecast these costs to be over budget by more than $400,000. In FY
2019 we will assess the need and ability to formally reallocate funds from other
lines within our budget, such as temporary pay, to cover what appears to be
permanent growth in court interpreter spending. However, we request that the
Board consider retaining the contingency funds earmarked in FY 2018 for Court
Translators and Interpreters in the event growth in this area exceeds the Branch's
ability to cover all of the additional costs.
• Juror Shuttle services - Should costs increase as a result of the new contract being
negotiated by the County for Juror Shuttle services, Superior Court will need
additional funding in its budget to cover these costs.

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• Data Center lease — The anticipated FY19 cost for this lease is $103,640 and the
budget associated with this expense currently resides in a separate operating
appropriation. We request that this funding be moved to Superior Court's General
Fund appropriation for ease of administration.
2. Adult Probation Department — areas of note in this budget include:
• The Probation Fee Fund is used to supplement Adult Probation's General Fund.
The revenue generated by this fee has declined over the last several years. This
trend is expected to continue in FY 2019. This decline can be attributed to the
increased use of non-financial sanctions enacted by legislative action and the Fair
Justice Initiatives being introduced in Arizona. The Branch is not requesting the
County appropriate funds to address this deficit in the Branch's FY 2019 budget.
Such a request may be made in the future however if these revenues continue to
decline.
• Federal grant monies are also used to supplement programs typically funded with
Adult Probation's General Fund. Two federal grants that supported personnel
costs (salary, benefits, and overtime) associated with the Thinking for a Change
program were not renewed for FY 2019. Rather than reduce or eliminate this
successful, evidence-based program, the Branch intends to absorb the cost
($265,000) in the General and Detention Funds. We are not requesting additional
funding from the County to offset the loss of these Federal grant monies.
• The lease associated with the north Phoenix location ends in March 2019. The
Branch's budget request does not include capacity to cover increased costs that
occur as a result of any renegotiation of this lease.
• The budgeted vacancy rate for the Detention Fund in FY 2018 is 5.0%. In
December, the Department realized vacancy savings of only 2.55%. This reduction
in vacancies resulted from Probation's aggressive recruitment program to fill all
vacant positions. As we plan to continue these efforts, the Branch requests that
this vacancy savings rate be re-examined for FY 2019.
3. Juvenile Probation Department — areas of note in this budget include:
• For FY 2019, the Juvenile Probation Department submitted a zero-based budget
for its General Fund at the baseline level of $18,005,316 even though General
Fund spending is running extremely close to budget in the current fiscal year.
Above Baseline: Total Requested $8,250,884
1. Capital Funds
• Since construction and use of the Central Court Building ("CCB") began in 1977, it
has not seen any major facility upgrades or improvements with the exception of
Floor 7 and the basement. Of all the Branch's facilities, CCB houses the largest
number of judicial officers and courtrooms including both criminal and family
divisions. The heavy use and large numbers of individuals accessing the facility
over the past 40 years has caused overall deterioration of the facility. Superficial
upgrades such as paint and new carpet will no longer address the issues. Further,

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as our reliance upon technology increases, courtrooms and ancillary space require
significant upgrades to meet the needs of judges, attorneys, and litigants. The FY
2019 estimated budget by FMD to start refurbishing CCB is $6,000,000.
2. Employee Compensation
• While not contained in this formal request, the Branch urges the Board to again
allocate funds to provide performance related compensation increases for Branch
employees. We are deeply appreciative of past salary adjustments and the work
of the Board to make these a reality. However, we also know that many
compensation ranges remain below market and are being affected by minimum
wage increases. Our work is in direct, person to person service to public, but many
of our front line positions are some of the lowest paid in our system. Merit
increases allow the Branch to recognize and reward those providing the highest
level of service to our customers.
3. Superior Court
• The Branch seeks $1,570,000 to support its on-going work with the iCISng case
management system. These additional funds will be used to support Developers
and Business Analysts. Since the project began with design and system
architecture work in 2012, significant progress has been achieved. Work has been
completed in IA Jail, IA Summons, Criminal Department, Family Department and
Adult Probation. The Branch's e-blood draw warrant system and soon to be
implemented e-child removal order process has garnered the attention of the
Governor's Office and other trial courts across the country. Currently,
development is underway in the Juvenile Department, leaving Civil/Tax, Probate
and Justice Courts to be completed. We believe the costs associated with
upgrading, maintaining, and enhancing the ICISng system are more appropriately
categorized as operating in nature.
4. Adult Probation Department
• Due to the continued and projected growth of probation caseloads resulting from
the continued use of probation tails, the Branch seeks an additional $838,973 in
General Fund appropriations and $961,752 in Detention Funds to support 19
additional staff members and related costs of operation (computers, radios,
printers, etc.). Caseload increases have been noted in Standard, Intensive and
Domestic Violence case types. Detailed information on caseload growth was
submitted to the Budget Office earlier this year. Similar to past budget years, we
fully endorse the County's use of a contingency system where funds are
appropriated to Adult Probation as the needs of the Department are reviewed and
confirmed. In short, the Branch is simply requesting that the necessary
contingency be created to assure that the safety of the community and the
Branch's dedicated probation staff are not compromised.

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5. Juvenile Probation Department
• Juvenile Probation continues to see a decline in the number of youth detained in
their facilities. In addition, laws, policies, and best practices associated with
delinquent youth continue to change. Given the current level of spending in the
Detention Fund, we felt it appropriate to re-examine the needs of the Juvenile
Probation Department to assume that the budget we submitted was appropriately
sized. To that end, the budget request for the Detention Fund is $34,812,156. This
is $1,119,841 less than the Baseline amount. As noted previously, the request for
JPD General Fund is submitted at the Baseline amount.
Special Revenue, Fees, Grants —Total Budget $38,984,017
1. Superior Court — areas of note in this budget include:
• Fill the Gap funds are statutorily restricted to supplement the cost associated with
processing Criminal Court cases. Fill the Gap revenue is anticipated to decline by
$372,245 in FY 2019. The requested revenue and operating expenditure budgets
have been reduced accordingly. As set forth below we intend to use monies in the
Branch's Special Revenue Fund to cover expenses that the Fill the Gap Fund
cannot cover because of the anticipated shortfall.
• Judicial Collection Enhancement (Local JCEF) Fund - Revenues remain stable in this
fund, and must be used to improve, maintain, and enhance the collection and
management of funds as well as court automation projects. We are asking the
Board to authorize the use of $521,661 from this fund in FY 2019 for:
> Travel/training expenses associated with the Problem Solving
Courts ($21,661)
> FIR system software upgrades ($500,000)
• Probate Fund - Revenues remain stable in this fund, and must be used to
preserve, audit, and safeguard the estates and wards for whom the County
has a fiduciary responsibility. We are asking the Board to authorize the use of
this fund in FY 2019 for:
> Expenses of contract accountants for Probate Court Administration
($75,000)
• Special Revenue Fund - Revenues remain stable in this fund. Funds are
generated from a variety of fees all of which have statutory spending
restrictions. We are asking the Board to authorize the use of $930,999 from
this fund in FY 2019 for:
> Expenses that cannot be covered from the Fill the Gap Fund
($580,999)
> FTR system software upgrades ($200,000)
> Maintenance expenses for the CTS Data Center ($100,000)
> Cost of food and supplies provided to jurors in the jury assembly
room ($50,000)
• Law Library Fund - Statutorily, Law Library funds in excess of what is needed
to fund the Law Library Resource Center (LLRC) may be used to fulfill the
facility-related needs of the Judicial Branch. We are asking the Board to

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authorize an annual $700,000 transfer out of the Law Library fund to the
Superior Court's Building Repair Fund for tenant improvement needs. We
believe this amount is sustainable on an annual basis based on the revenue
and spending trends in the Law Library Fund. However, we will assess the
needs of the LLRC each year and amend the transfer amount if necessary.
2. Adult Probation Department — areas of note include:
• Probation Fees Fund — Due to declining fee revenue, this budget is submitted
$1,036,346 below baseline for a total budget of $11,635,346. We are asking
the Board to authorize the use of this fund in FY 2019 for:
Officer radios, printers, and programming costs ($750,000).
r General fund reimbursement ($10,885,346)
3. Juvenile Probation Department — areas of note include:
• Juvenile Probation Special Fee Fund — We are requesting the Board authorize
the use of this fund in FY19:
r to cover operational expenses ($257,078)
• Juvenile Restitution Fund — We are requesting the Board authorize the use of
this fund in FY19:
0-- to support programming for youth ($6,000)
• Juvenile Probation Diversion Fund — We are requesting the Board authorize
the use of this fund in FY19:
to cover operating expenses ($236,992)
Conclusion
In closing, my team and I look forward to working with County management through this budget
process. I understand that the Board of Supervisors received a great number of requests for
additional funding this year, and must weigh the need for additional spending against a variety
of variables. We appreciate the consideration given to the Judicial Branch's request, and hope
that the Board of Supervisors and County management appreciate the Branch's efforts to utilize
special revenue funds as alternatives to the General Fund and return operating savings to the
Detention Fund.
Thank you for your support in the Judicial Branch's continued efforts to provide unfettered access
to justice and uphold the rule of law for the citizens of this great County.
SipOrely,
"")7 _
J net E. Barton
residing Judge
Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County

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cc: Honorable Steven Chucri, Board of Supervisors, Chairman, District 2
Honorable Denny Barney, Board of Supervisors, District 1
Honorable Bill Gates, Board of Supervisors, District 3
Honorable Clint Hickman, Board of Supervisors, District 4
Honorable Steve Gallardo, Board of Supervisors, District 5
Joy Rich, Maricopa County Manager
Raymond Billotte, Judicial Branch Administrator
Barbara Broderick, Adult Probation Chief
Eric Meaux, Juvenile Probation Chief