New KY courts budget is bigger, but chief justice warns of ‘significant layoffs’
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Courts face layoffs despite budget rising to $480M in FY2027, $497M in FY2028.
- A 2% pay raise and a 24% rise in employer health costs squeeze court funds.
- Judicial request ($562M FY27, $574M FY28) exceeded the legislature’s appropriation.
Kentucky Chief Justice Debra Lambert says major cuts are coming to the state courts under the two-year judicial budget passed this week by the General Assembly.
“We know we will have significant layoffs but will focus now internally on taking care of our people and the citizens we serve with as much care and dignity as possible,” Lambert said in a social media post Thursday.
“We are deeply disappointed but understand it was the will of the legislature to make these decisions,” Lambert wrote.
Lambert previously warned that Kentucky’s “specialty courts,” including its drug courts, mental health courts and veterans treatment courts, may be forced to close under in next budget cycle because of a lack of funds.
The judicial branch is actually getting more money from the next two-year budget, contained in House Bill 504, not less, something that Republican lawmakers were quick to point out Wednesday as they passed it.
For the current fiscal year, the judicial branch is expected to get $466 million in state spending, not counting restricted funds it collects or federal funds.
The new judicial budget will give the state courts $480 million in Fiscal Year 2027 and $497 million in Fiscal Year 2028.
That’s a total of $45 million more over two years, House Speaker David Osborne, R-Prospect, told reporters Wednesday.
“So again, I don’t think you can call it a cut,” Osborne said.
“We also funded additional judges’ raises. We funded personnel raises for clerk staff. So I think part of the misunderstanding, quite possibly, is the fact that Justice Lambert is a new chief justice in her role, there’s a new director of (the Administrative Office of the Courts) that possibly didn’t understand all the workings on it,” Osborne said.
Lambert declined to comment Thursday on the speaker’s remarks or offer any additional explanation about the judicial budget.
While the courts are getting more money, they still face a pinch because the budget mandates certain spending increases, such as a 2% pay raise for employees and employer health insurance costs that are set to rise 24% over the next two years, said Jason Bailey, executive director of the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy in Berea.
The same is true for Kentucky state agencies generally in the next two-year executive branch budget, Bailey said.
“What looks like more money is less when you take out those fixed costs,” Bailey said.
The judicial branch asked for a lot more money in its original budget request at the start of the year. It recommended $562 million in state appropriations in Fiscal Year 2027 and $574 million in Fiscal Year 2028.
Staff writer Piper Hansen contributed to this report.
