Being a Superior Court judge for Spokane County is a rewarding and fulfilling experience, but I am concerned enough about the lack of funding for our courts that I am asking for your help.

The latest budget cuts proposed in Olympia will cut into services that keep our courts open for all, not just those with the money to hire an attorney and navigate what is sometimes a bewildering process.

You can see this for yourself. Walk our courthouse hallways. You will see people trying to figure out the correct way to fill out court forms, juggling the documents on their laps while trying to keep toddlers from fussing. They may be trying to get a restraining order to stop an abusive situation. Or, they may be in the middle of a divorce and need money for food when the other spouse won’t pay. They may be trying to protect a child from abuse.

Step through a courtroom door and count the people waiting for an unlawful detainer action to be heard.

You may see a mom or dad whose child is out of control or won’t go to school. Their child may be a runaway teen who thinks the streets are safe, but you know better. These parents are desperately looking for services to keep their child safe.

Point to what you hope is the right door for the non-English-speaking person asking for help, knowing an interpreter is probably not available to explain what is going on in a language they can understand.

These are the faces of the people in our community needing access to the courts. There are many other examples, such as the victims of crimes looking for justice. Or a small-business owner on the verge of bankruptcy because a contract dispute needs to be decided and the case has had to be continued – again. When judges complain that funding for courts is being cut, these are the people who will suffer.

State funding for Washington trial courts and their state agency was cut 19.3 percent in 2009. The Legislature is planning more cuts this year.

State funding for interpreters has been cut by 34 percent, leaving some people trying to access the court system without a capable interpreter. Courts use volunteers who work without pay to serve as the guardians ad litem for children whose parents are accused of abuse and neglect, saving government millions of dollars. But the state funding to supervise these volunteers was cut by more than 20 percent in 2009.

Our trial courts statewide and in Spokane County are already operating on a bare-bones budget. State funding for trial courts is even lower than it was in 2008, when Washington was ranked dead last – 50th out of 50 states – in the funding the state provides to the trial courts. Counties and cities still continue to shoulder virtually the whole burden. As one of the three branches of government, we were stunned in 2004 to learn that state funding to the entire judicial branch in Washington is less than 1 percent of the state budget.

How can we provide access to the courts, a forum for the exercise of the rule of law, when we are facing furloughs of our staff and crippling losses to critical programs?

Justice is the business of government. Government has a fundamental responsibility to provide a functioning court system to the people. Without one, our democracy is at risk. We all have a duty to provide a court system that will resolve disputes and make our communities safer and better places to live. Just like police and fire protection, we all need an accessible court system – even if we never have to use it ourselves.

Help us. Please tell your legislators that they need to adequately fund the judicial branch of government and if they can, restore money cut from the courts. Tell them that we all need the courthouse doors to be truly open – for everyone.