Rumor has it that someone at Revenue decided to hold off (forgot?) on paying Bar Association dues for a slew of state attorneys.
Which means the state now has to pay $50 per person in late fees. Naturally, employees have been told to pay the fee and then hope for reimbursement.
What happened, folks? No one at Revenue wanted to answer my questions yesterday. So maybe a reader could chime in?
And now on to other rumors and ruffled feathers in the Judicial Branch…
We’re hearing quite a bit from the powers that be here in the Commonwealth. The hot rumor at the moment is that while Chief Justice Minton allegedly told a few members of the Court that layoffs were an AOC staff decision and that he was unaware, quite a few current and former AOC employees have gone to other State Supreme Court Justices in the last week with solid evidence refuting his claims. We hear, but cannot confirm, that other Justices are furious with Minton for taking action that has completely destroyed morale at the AOC.
The Court is allegedly moving to form an Executive Committee of sorts. The three-member Committee, of which Minton will allegedly be a part, is said to be removing decision making from the Chief Justice and require that all management and policy decisions have a majority vote. We hear, but again cannot confirm, that Minton has volunteered to give in to this solution in light of his fingerprints being on everything. It’s good that he allegedly wants to put this controversy to bed.
Rumor has it that having the Court budget ripped apart during the 2009 special legislation session, the problems with Ed Worley-Gate and the Madison County Courthouse drama and now the layoffs– rumor has it all that’s being used by other Justices to push Minton to resign early as Chief Justice, while remaining on the Court. For health and family reasons, of course. Will it happen?
Oh, and remember when open records procedures were proposed for the Court in Kentucky? Turns out, due to pressure from elected judges who allegedly want to keep their emails confidential, the Court decided this week to abandon any effort to adopt an open records policy.
Just thought I’d share what I’m hearing.
4 responses so far ↓
1 Employee // Sep 25, 2009 at 8:06 pm
That’s it, keep digging!! You will be surprised at what you will find out! Rumor has it that at least three of the 47 employees laid off, have had to see a doctor for anxiety and depression. I can imagine! It’s so unethical, and right down wrong to treat your senior employees in such a manner!
2 ahem // Sep 26, 2009 at 1:03 am
where is this Lorrie Dudgeon lady who was just hired as new director at AOC and defended all of this to the legislature.
3 Tyler Durden // Sep 27, 2009 at 10:26 pm
From: Chief Justice John D. Minton, Jr.
Sent: Friday, June 26, 2009 6:23 PM
To: All AOC Employees
Subject: Impact of Judicial Branch Budget Reduction
Importance: High
To All Kentucky Court of Justice Employees:
The Kentucky General Assembly concluded its special session on June 24 by passing a budget bill that calls for reducing the Judicial Branch budget by $22.6 million for the next fiscal year. This level of budget cut is unprecedented. The language in the bill states:
“The Judicial Branch shall transfer $22,622,100 to the General Fund in fiscal year 2009-2010.”
$22.6 million is approximately 7.3 percent of the Judicial Branch budget. This additional cut comes on the heels of the $7.6 million reduction the Judicial Branch sustained as a result of action by the 2009 General Assembly. The amount of our budget reduction is approximately $2.1 million less than the amount originally proposed by the Governor’s budget office and represents what I consider progress in our budget discussions with House and Senate leadership.
In my message to you on March 17, 2009, I informed you that the judicial branch budget was “structurally imbalanced,” meaning reduced budget appropriations have forced us to spend one-time money from reserve accounts to avoid employee layoffs and service reductions. In March, I outlined some of the actions we would take beginning April 1, 2009, to reduce expenses for leaner times ahead. But In light of these deeper cuts, we estimate that the Judicial Branch will deplete all available unobligated reserves by the end of fiscal year 2009-2010, which starts July 1. This means we must start making significant cuts soon in order to ensure a balanced budget in FY 10 and to prepare for a substantial budget shortfall in FY 11.
I anticipate an alternative plan in the coming weeks to address the situation. Needless to say, restoring an adequate level of funding for the operation of the Judicial Branch must be at the top of our legislative agenda for the next regular legislative session.
I am sending this to you because I believe that all employees of the KCOJ should understand the very significant budget reductions that will inevitably affect operation of the KCOJ.
Please know that I appreciate all you do for the Court of Justice.
John D. Minton, Jr.
Chief Justice of Kentucky
State Capitol, Room 231
700 Capital Avenue
Frankfort, KY 40601
Phone: (502) 564-4162
Fax: (502) 564-1933
Warren County Justice Center
1001 Center Street, Suite 305
Bowling Green, KY 42101
Phone: (270) 746-7867
Fax: (270) 746-7870
johnminton@kycourts.net
________________________________
Of course he knew! He pretty much said it right here that it was going to happen. Jason Nemes told us before he left it was going to happen. They didn’t say it in those words, but if you payed attention to the words he said it was obvious.
4 Jinx // Sep 28, 2009 at 8:53 am
Since nepotism is rampant in the Kentucky judiciary- especially with the Lamberts- Were any of the laid off employees related to members of the judiciary? Or were they all not related? Those are importannt questions because I see the potential for a class of people being discriminated against.
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