The “most progressive city councils since the city’s inception” was the way the former Arnold Mayor Mark Powell described the group of eight individuals who served on the councils during the time when the city added a recreation center, a ...

Tagged with: budget Mark Powell Matt Unrein Ron Counts

The state's public defender office is mulling over the most effective use for money aimed at paring down its caseload. Approximately $2 million for the Public Defender Commission was tucked into a wide-ranging bill featuring some projects funded with federal stimulus money. After a series of starts and stops through the legislative process, the bill passed both the Senate and the House on Thursday evening, a little less than a day before a mandatory budget deadline. Pictured is House Budget Chairman Allen Icet, R-Wildwood.

Tagged with: Allen Icet budget public defender stimulus

The Missouri General Assembly has completed a budget that uses federal stimulus money to forestall cuts made to the state's judiciary system. (pictured is House Budget Chairman Allen Icet, R-Wildwood) As a result, both the judiciary and the state's public defender system will see slight increases to their 2010 operating budgets. Included in that budget bill is $37.3 million for the state's public defender system. The appropriation is slightly higher than what the department got during the current fiscal year.

Tagged with: budget Kevin Engler Missouri General Assembly public defender stimulus

As the state prepares to complete next year's budget, Attorney General Chris Koster's thoughts have also turned to money - both for his lawyers and for the state as a whole. Koster on Thursday said he intends to increase pay for entry-level lawyers in the attorney general's office to $42,500, a 23 percent increase from the current $32,900. Koster said current pay levels are less than those of public defenders and many prosecutor's offices. "Bringing this office into something akin to basic economic parity is my No. 1 priority," Koster said Thursday.

Tagged with: budget Chris Koster Jay Nixon Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association public defender

A legislative package that included projects funded with federal stimulus dollars was defeated on the floor of the Missouri House, a development that puts a $2 million allotment for the public defender system in jeopardy. The Missouri House quickly put ...

Tagged with: Allen Icet budget public defender stimulus

Alarm bells are sounding within the state court system over an early draft of the state budget. The Missouri House gave first-round approval on Wednesday to 13 bills making up the state’s budget, with a final vote expected late Thursday. ...

Tagged with: budget John Burnett Missouri Supreme Court public defender State Court Administrator

If letting top income-tax rates go back to where they were in 2000 is class warfare against the rich, I’m ready to snap to attention with my old M1 rifle on my shoulder. What a ridiculous label, class warfare. It’s ...

Tagged with: Barack Obama budget class warfare income tax rates

Tough economic times have forced companies across the country to trim budgets in all areas of operation. Legal budgets are no exception. This article provides tried and true tips for maximizing your legal budget by making strategic decisions about the ...

Tagged with: budget economy National Law Journal

Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice Laura Denvir Stith used the annual State of the Judiciary Address to call for "creative solutions" to assist the state's public defender system. She also called for using "resources more efficiently" in a difficult budget environment. Her comments came a day after Gov. Jay Nixon's proposed budget called for a roughly $1 million increase to the Office of the State Public Defender, including money to hire 12 additional staff members. Public defender officials said it would be the first staff increase to the system in years.

Tagged with: budget Chief Justice Laura Denver Stith Jay Nixon Missouri Supreme Court new hires public defender spending State of the Judiciary Address

If it seems incongruous for elected officials to talk about budget discipline in the same breath as trillion-dollar deficits, it is. President-elect Barack Obama is being encouraged by economists of all stripes to err on the side of doing too ...

Tagged with: Barack Obama budget deficit stimulus