LANSING, Mich. (MIRS News) – Michigan Supreme Court justices would all receive home security systems and unmarked vehicles for themselves and their security detail under next year’s $12.5 million Judiciary budget proposed by the Governor last week.

The suggested $415,000 for improved security is necessary given a “growing concern” about the seven justices’ security at a time of escalating threats and potential violence both on and off the clock, said Chief Justice Elizabeth Clement, former Gov. Rick Snyder’s legal counsel, to a Senate subcommittee Thursday afternoon.

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“After working in the Governor’s office and coming to the court, I was very surprised that security was not tighter,” she told the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Corrections and Judiciary Thursday. “And I just don’t think we can keep on the way we are and keep our justices safe.”

Clement said the $415,000 would provide unmarked vehicles for all seven justices as well as unmarked vehicles for security detail and home security salaries. It also includes salaries and benefits for two full-time employees as well as travel expenses.

Also in the Governor’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 proposed budget is $3 million for 16 FTEs to provide ongoing support for users and continued infrastructure maintenance, as well as $3 million for other hardware and software needs as the court’s statewide case management system expands.

Other budget priorities include:

– $2.025 million for a new Juvenile Justice Services Division to oversee the annual certification of juvenile and district program officers, among other functions recommended by the Juvenile Justice Task Force.

– $475,000 to implement the Justice for All initiatives that focus on projects designed to create more welcoming courthouses.

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– $12.5 million for a Statewide Case Management System designed to unify all of the state’s courts into one online system.

State Court Administrator Tom Boyd said there is a $6.5 million savings for the current local funding units that are on the court’s system, but the estimated savings is expected to be roughly $38 million in 2022 dollars “when we’re all done.”

That estimate is rough, he noted, because it is unknown how much the state’s largest counties, including Wayne and Washtenaw, would save because their systems are currently through private vendors and the cost is not available.

Clement is excited about one ask – $4.5 million for a statewide court data transparency project, which she called “groundbreaking” and will allow Michigan to become a leader in criminal justice data transparency.

“This project will build on Michigan’s existing criminal justice data collection efforts by making our court system the first in the nation to pioneer transparency and accountability for every trial court,” she said, noting the work will take place in three phases.

The first phase includes a comprehensive data assessment, which is complete. The second is publishing that data to the Measures for Justice data portal. The third phase is the most innovative portion of the project and includes courts working with local communities to set goals based on the data, Clement said.

“This transparency and accountability project creates a statewide framework so that apples are compared to apples and oranges are compared to oranges and that may sound easy, but we have come to find that it is not,” she said, acknowledging that some judges may not want that data made public.

“But that’s precisely why this project is so important. We need to see the data. All of Michigan needs to see the data and understand what it means and then we can set goals together to improve the equity of our justice system,” Clement added.