Kentucky Courts Budget Strained
By AP
FRANKFORT, KY - State spending on courthouse buildings is going up even as Kentucky's judicial system struggles to pay for its day-to-day operations.
State courthouses shut down Sept. 4 for the second of three furlough days this year because of state budget cuts.
The Courier-Journal reports that state budgets show a boom in courthouse building spending from 1998 to 2008 that has resulted in the doubling of costs for debt service and related costs for buildings.
The newspaper reported that Kentucky is spending $122 million this fiscal year on debt service and related costs for buildings, which is double the $61 million spent in 2007.