A study blasts Detroit's 36th District Court, saying it's plagued by financial mismanagement, a backlogged docket and a bloated payroll, The Detroit News reports.
The study by the National Center for State Courts, and commissioned by the state, also found the court was run by administrators unable or unwilling to change, George Hunter and Oralandar Brand-Williams of The Detroit News reports. The report was commissioned because of concerns about the court's $4.5 million in cost overruns this year and other problems.
"Continual financial problems at the District Court are commonplace and generally played down by Court leaders," the report found. "It is hard to fathom how a local government operation can over-expend its budget by $4.5 million. In many states . . . over expenditures is violative of the law and subjects offenders to prosecution," the report said.
Chief Judge Kenneth King was fuming.
"I am angry" King said, according to The News. "It was extremely insulting — the tone in which it was written. It was extremely insulting to me and my staff."
Hunter and Brand-Williams write:
King said he thought representatives from the state court and the National Center for State Courts were there to conduct a feasibility study when they came in to talk to him earlier this month. He said he was already addressing the court's deficit by looking at possible layoffs and stepping up collections of misdemeanor and traffic fines.
The judge said he has been asked to stay on as head of the troubled court but he doesn't know exactly what his role will be until he meets next week with state officials.
King, who was appointed to the post of chief judge last year by the state Supreme Court, said he is working with a court that not only is underfunded, but also operates with outdated technology.
