AUGUSTA (AP) – Maine supreme court Chief Justice Leigh Ingalls Saufley told state lawmakers Tuesday that court managers continue to restructure and streamline operations but need more people and money.

“By any measure,” Saufley said, comparing Maine to other states, “the Maine judicial branch is last in line.”

Operating on a budget of about $54 million last year, the judicial branch returned more than $38 million in revenue to the state, reducing the net cost of running the judicial system to about $16 million, Saufley said.

Nonetheless, Saufley, accompanied by Gov. John Baldacci as she made her fourth annual presentation to a joint convention of the Maine Senate and House of Representatives, said inadequate resources have forced temporary closings of some of the state’s 41 courthouses and said more resources are needed to help the Judicial Department make it easier to get to court and safer to be there.

“The problems are hurting Maine’s people and Maine businesses,” the chief justice said in a speech that shortened an annual report she also distributed.

Maine, which has about 3,200 lawyers belonging to the state bar, sees about 280,000 new case filings every year, according to court officials.

“The lack of judicial resources available to Maine’s people is real, it’s serious and we have a plan to address it this session,” Saufley said.

The chief justice asked lawmakers to back a basic budget proposal that would allow court managers to restore personnel to positions that have been left vacant and to authorize the hiring of two additional case management officers – there are now eight – for the system’s family division.

Saufley said officials would also seek support for $3 million in borrowing to pay for work to improve physical access to the courts and for additional bonding to begin work on a courthouse project in Penobscot County.

Additionally, Saufley suggested that restored federal funding and other financing could bolster juvenile courts and go toward creation of a business court.

The chief justice told lawmakers a national study suggested Maine is at the bottom in per capita judicial system employees.

“The translation of that statistic is simple – we have far too few clerks, security staffing is woefully inadequate and our administration is understaffed,” Saufley said.

Another study estimated that Maine is 20 percent or more short of the necessary number of trial judges, Saufley said.

A shortage of resources, Saufley said, has prevented the court system from establishing a fine enforcement program. She said millions of dollars in fines go unpaid.

In the judiciary’s 2004 annual report, one highlight noted was a reorganization of court scheduling practices designed to give prompter attention to high priority cases.

One development cited in the report was a reduction in the backlog of family cases.

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