But as expenses have increased, revenues have declined. Some court professionals speculate there are others more fundamental reasons local courts often finish last in the funding race. Declining local economies, such as those based on the wood products industry, have lowered local tax bases, creating greater competition for public funds. Others maintain there is a persistent lack of understanding of how diminished resources can negatively affect the courts' constitutionally independent role. Still others say courts must do a better job of measuring performance to prove they are well managed and efficient.
Judges report they search for economies in every corner of their court's operations.
Services considered less than essential to daily court operations are reduced or diminished. But, driven by surges in population, court caseloads continue to increase. Courts usually accommodate these increases, usually under threat of both real and potential costs. The personal security of those who work and do business in courts, dangerously inadequate in many locales, is simply not provided for in others. Physical facilities in many courts are inadequate.