Kentucky Chief Justice John D. Minton Jr. has told a legislative panel that the governor's proposed budget cuts would effectively shut down the courts temporarily.
The Courier-Journal reports that Minton appeared before a House budget subcommittee on Tuesday and said budget cuts proposed by Gov. Matt Bevin would cripple the court system.
Minton said the courts would likely have to shut down the court system for some three weeks just to enact the 4.5 percent cuts Bevin has proposed for the current fiscal year that ends June 30. He said other justice initiatives would be threatened "by a crippled court system."
Bevin has proposed cuts of 9 percent in each of the next two fiscal years.