State government pays for the salaries, benefits, and office expenses of supreme and appellate court judges, and salaries and benefits of circuit court judges. The state also pays for support staff of supreme and appellate court judges, staff in other units of the supreme and appellate courts, court reporters and a small number of other personnel in the circuit courts, and mandatory arbitration staff in several counties. Part of the cost of operating the mandatory arbitration program is offset by fees paid by participants in the program. State funding for probation departments currently covers approximately 2,900 probation personnel.
County governments pay part of the cost of financing circuit court operations.
Counties provide office and courtroom space, maintenance, and support staff to assist the circuit court judges. Circuit clerks collect money to help pay for their operations and some court operations. They also collect and disburse revenues to help fund local and state government programs, as summarized below. The circuit clerk's office in each county provides a variety of court recordkeeping and financial accounting services. Circuit clerks are elected for four-year terms by the voters in each county.