Municipal Court Judge Elizabeth Allen, left, and Court Administrator Juanita McNiel present the Municipal Court Judge’s budget Monday night. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com

Staff Report

Los Alamos County Council unanimously voted to tentatively approve the $589,322 budget for the Municipal Court during the budget hearing Monday night.

Municipal Judge Elizabeth Allen highlighted the following items in her presentation:

• Maintain a flat budget from previous years –but transition the community service coordinator from an independent contractor to a .50 FTE in order to comply with IRS Independent contractor services.  No additional funds are needed to bring this into compliance because the money from independent contractor being utilized efficiently. 
• The Municipal Court will continue to offer the community optimal customer service with fair, efficient and impartial resolution of all matters brought before the Municipal Court. 
• Continue support of the community with Teen Court, Probation and Pre-trial Release programing that services magistrate and district courts.
• Reduces jail expenses by offering Electronic Monitoring, Alcohol Monitoring and Drug Testing.