Layoff notices for state court workers

ALBANY -- Attorneys, case managers, clerks and security officers were among the dozens of people who received layoff notices Wednesday at state-run courts in Nassau and Suffolk counties.

The state Office of Court Administration said it is trimming its nonjudicial workforce by 367 statewide and transferring another 241, in the wake of a 10 percent cut in operating funds. Court officials say the reductions -- a decrease of about 2.5 percent -- will slow cases, but said they have little choice.

"These layoffs are painful but unavoidable," said New York's Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman. "We simply cannot maintain our workforce at its present level given our greatly reduced budget allocation. Several hundred personnel also will be notified that they are being reassigned to new positions or new work locations."

In Nassau County, State Supreme Court will incur a net loss of 30 positions, including a case manager, three attorney-referees, several court reporters and security officers. Suffolk County Supreme Court will lose 13 positions.

New York's judicial branch saw its budget reduced $170 million in the state budget Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and legislators enacted in March. Lippman had ordered judges to close court by 4:30 p.m. every day to avoid overtime pay, a move officials acknowledged would extend trials. Court officials say 95 percent of the judicial system's $2.7-billion budget is for personnel.

The disparity is because Suffolk incurred more losses than Nassau last fall when the state offered early retirement incentives, said J. Randall Hinrichs, the administrative judge for Suffolk. As a result of the layoffs and retirements, Suffolk has lost about 80 positions, Hinrichs said; each county now has roughly the same number of nonjudicial personnel, at nearly 1,000.

Hinrichs said the cutbacks have been tough on morale.

"It's not just someone who is being terminated for cause," he said. "These are good people who lost their jobs. It's an unfortunate set of circumstances."

Hinrichs said he couldn't predict what the impact will be on operations but his counterpart in Nassau said lawyers and clients will soon notice the effects.

"Although we have made administrative and procedural modifications that will minimize disruption in court services, longer wait times in the adjudication of certain matters may be become a reality," Nassau Administrative Judge Anthony Marano said in an email statement.

Courts in the five boroughs of account for about 170 of the layoffs. Last month, the Office of Court Administration, the management arm of the judicial system, let 74 employees go.

All told, the state court system now has about 15,300 nonjudicial employees, or about 1,200 fewer employees than last summer, before early retirement incentives were offered.