AUGUSTA – Chief Justice Leigh Saufley says the state’s courts cannot absorb another $3.5 million in cuts as requested by Gov. John Baldacci to help meet a state revenue shortfall.

In fact, Saufley is requesting $848,000 in supplemental funds over the next 18 months.

More cuts “absolutely cannot be done” without eliminating access to justice in certain kinds of cases, Saufley said in an interview. “We have already cut to the bone, and beyond.”

The chief justice said the target of $1.9 million in cuts through the end of June is not realistic. She said the judicial branch has already done everything from keeping positions vacant to limiting the size of jury pools.

“We are literally turning out the lights some days,” she said.

The result of previous budget cuts, she said, is that Mainers have less access to justice and their safety is in jeopardy when they are at a courthouse.

“We are the last state in New England to allow people to walk straight into a courthouse wearing a gun, and in the last month we have had two instances where guns were taken from people in courtrooms,” she said. “It’s really scary.”

Some of the 20 positions being kept vacant to save money are security positions; others are staff positions in court clerk offices.

Besides superior courts in all 16 counties, there are 31 district courts across the state.

Saufley said civil cases – disputes between businesses or individuals, small claims cases and traffic infractions – are routinely delayed because of higher priority cases. She said a ban on overtime means resolution is delayed because court staff time is exhausted.

“The cases that generate revenue for the state tend to fall to the bottom of the priority list,” she said. “It’s very hard to justify using judge time on speeding cases when cases involving children and domestic violence are waiting to be heard.”

Saufley is asking for $420,000 to fill 10 of 20 vacant positions and $340,000 to establish a “roving” team of seven security screeners that would be deployed to courthouses based on need.

“I would like to see screeners at every courthouse,” she said, “but I realize the budget constraints we are under.”

Saufley has also asked for $68,000 as a match for $130,000 in available federal funds to increase the number of case managers from eight to 10.

Her requests were greeted sympathetically by members of the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee.

The co-chairman of the budget-writing Appropriations Committee, Sen. Mary Cathcart, D-Orono, also serves on the Judiciary Committee. She said the supplemental requests seemed modest in light of the problems facing the courts.

“They have been holding positions vacant, so they don’t have enough security in our courthouses,” Cathcart said. “And for the governor to expect her to cut $1.9 million, nearly $2 million, in the last six months of this year, that seems to be too much.”

The proposed judiciary cuts are part of what is needed to fund a $113 million shortfall in Medicaid funds. Part of that is from accounting errors going back several years, and part is because of increased use of Medicaid programs.

“I appreciate the fact they say they cannot handle any more reductions,” Gov. Baldacci said last week. “These are goals; these are targets. I have already spoken briefly with the chief justice and we will speak again on this.”

Baldacci said he wants the courts to look at the same consolidation issues that other areas of state government have been asked to do. He said the state has to make better use of its dollars because raising taxes is not an option.

“Didn’t go there last year, won’t go there this year,” he said.

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