Court layoffs coming: 'they are figuring out a way to get by with less'.

Layoff notices will be received June 1 by court employees who fell victim to unprecedented legislative cuts to the court budget, in order to give them a month to find new jobs.

"It is not a value judgment on the employees or the work they are doing. It's back to the cold, hard reality that the dollars aren't there to support the size payroll we have now, and we have to reduce accordingly," said State Courts Administrator Lisa Goodner.

The actual number of layoffs and precise positions eliminated in each of Florida's 20 circuits and districts courts of appeal, effective July 1, is still a work in progress, Goodner said May 20.

The latest estimate of full-time equivalent positions lost to the budget ax is down from 299 and is now between 250.5 and 267.5, depending on whether the Legislature accepts a last-ditch proposal from the district courts of appeal to reduce lost positions from 41.5 to 24.5.

The Trial Court Budget Commission met May 15 in Tampa and chief judges are busy preparing what Goodner called "reduction-in-force plans."

The Legislature required a reduction of 35 court administrators, 47 case managers, and 10 general magistrate support staff statewide. Chief judges have the discretion to make additional cuts to a total $11.5 million salary reduction.

"They will submit plans and make sure they've met targets. And once approved, they will be in a position to notify affected employees of layoffs," Goodner said. "If they are fortunate to have vacancies that employees are qualified for, they can move them. We are looking for whatever ways to minimize the number of people we will actually lay off and use whatever resources we have left to move people around. It is not an easy exercise. We want to do this in a way that makes sure operations go forward and also help our employees find other positions."

Goodner said affected employees can avail themselves of services provided by the Agency for Workforce Administration, and chief judges are actively working with local governments to try to place employees losing their court jobs.

Because of what Goodner called a "technical glitch in the way the budget came out in our favor," the lost FTEs to the trial courts is 197, down from the originally forecast 227. Five full-time equivalent positions are lost at the Florida Supreme Court, and 24 is the revised number of lost positions at the Office of the State Courts Administrator, down from the original 25.5.

Still in limbo is the loss of 41.5...