An update on the Milwaukee County Court budget cuts and future of Milwaukee Legal Resource Center from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: (full text available to Wisconsinites via Badgerlink)
The Milwaukee County court system would get all of its abolished positions back, but only two-thirds of the money to pay for them, under a budget compromise endorsed narrowly Wednesday by the County Board’s Finance and Audit Committee. . .
Court officials, backed by testimony from several trial attorneys, failed to convince the panel to fully restore the controversial $4.4 million in tax-levy cuts that [County Executive Scott] Walker proposed for the 2006 courts budget. But court officials seemed gratified over the prospect of regaining control over 75 positions the county executive had eliminated out of the total of 300 county-funded court jobs a proposed reduction of 25%. . .
Walker blasted the committee action as “reckless” because supervisors appeared to rely on getting another $1 million from the state to fill the funding gap on the 75 positions. The committee action provides $2.9 million in county funds toward the positions and to keep open a courthouse law library.