Court budget hangs in the balance.

With a base budget of about $280 million, the Florida court system sought about $11 million in new funding from the Florida Legislature this year.

With a special budget session looming, it appears only a fraction of that will be approved by the House and the Senate, and there's an additional danger the legal system could permanently lose $26 million in court trust funds that had been set aside to help pay for a constitutional amendment mandating the state pick up more trial court expenses. The money was used by the state last fall to help make up a $1 billion budget shortfall.

One dramatic example of the difference between what the Supreme Court requested and what the legislature is willing to give is the number of requested new employees. The court asked for 186.5 new positions. The last Senate budget has 34, while the House had, depending on how it's counted, 18 or 19.

"A number of those [unapproved positions] dealt with the oncoming Revision 7 [that will see the state take over more of the trial courts' funding] and was an attempt on the court's part to begin to address some of the needs in those counties that don't have a lot of resources," said Deputy State Court Administrator Lisa Goodner. "The legislature, of course having just been through a massive budget cutting exercise, was not in a mood to fund a lot of additional positions, period, especially since they had to take so many off line."

A notable reduction in what the court requested and what lawmakers are likely to approve is the number of new judges. The Supreme Court certified 49 new judges -- two DCA, 34 circuit, and 13 county judges--and 62 support staff positions. That cost was expected to be $6.6 million (for half a budget year -- the positions were slated to start in January).

The most recent version of the Senate budget had a total of 29 positions, 12 of them judicial, with a budget of $1.7 million. The House had 19 positions, nine of them judicial, and a budget of $861,465. (Part of the difference is the House and Senate started the new positions later in the budget year than did the Supreme Court.)

The Senate package calls for eight new circuit judges, two DCA judges, and two county court judges, while the House has nine circuit judges.

Both, however, have included in their budgets $423,780 for a lease to relocate the Tampa branch of the Second District Court of Appeal at the new Stetson University College of Law Tampa campus. (See story to the right.)

Both also had...