2011 budget summary - St. Louis County

EXECUTIVE SUMMARYThe 2011 budget for the Municipal Court is$2,046,871, a decrease of $77,440 or 3.6%. Thisdecrease is due to the defunding of one vacantposition and the elimination of contractualsecurity services. This security will now beprovided by the County Police.Board of Election CommissionersThe Board of Election Commissioners isresponsible for the registration of all qualifiedvoters of primary, general and special elections.The Board is also responsible for receiving andcertifying the candidates and issues to be votedupon and it appoints election judges, clerks anddeputy election commissioners to serve atelections. The Board designates and contractsfor appropriate polling place locations,maintains accurate township and precinctboundary lines and keeps a complete, updatedlist of all qualified voters in the County andvarious political subdivisions. Thesesubdivisions include 28 townships, 91municipalities, 7 State Senate and 32 StateRepresentative districts, 7 County Councildistricts, 24 fire districts and 24 school districts.The Board serves as a depository for allcampaign finance information required by theMissouri Campaign Finance Disclosure Law,prepares all publications of elections forpolitical subdivisions and provides all necessaryservices and functions within the purview ofMissouri Election Laws. The Board isresponsible for conducting elections on 6 majorelection dates a year and other dates, whenallowed by law. The Board is also required toverify signatures on all petitions submitted orrequired by law.The 2011 budget for the Board is $5,593,304, adecrease of $2,100,875 or 27.3%. This decreaseis possible because there is only one countyfundedelection anticipated in 2011. TheCounty has no budgetary responsibility for stateelections in odd‐numbered years.Public AdministratorThe Office of the Public Administrator wasestablished by State Statute which requires thatthe Public Administrator take into his/hercharge and custody the estates of all deceasedpersons, the person and estates of all minorsand the person and estate of all incapacitatedpersons in St. Louis County as outlined inChapter 473 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri.The 2011 budget for the Public Administrator is$822,570, a decrease of $16,618 or 2.0%. Thisdecrease is achieved due to an employeeretirement which reduces the amount offunding needed to pay accrued sick andvacation time.Judicial AdministrationThe mission of the Department of JudicialAdministration is to resolve disputes, try cases,administer justice in a timely and fair fashion,and effectively comply with all statutes,ordinances, and regulations. The departmentis comprised of the Court en Banc, Circuit Clerk,Sheriff, and Family Court. Funding, other thansalaries and benefits for judges and Circuit Clerkpersonnel, is provided by the County asmandated by state law.The Court en Banc consists of all the judges ofthe Twenty‐First Judicial Circuit Court ofMissouri acting collectively. The Court en Bancdetermines questions of policy for the Court,promulgates Court rules and designates theassignment of judges to specialized types ofcases. The Court has general supervision of alladministrative matters relating to the Court.The Circuit Clerk plans, assigns, coordinates,administers and supervises over 200 statepersonnel who provide clerical andadministrative support to the Circuit Court.- 38 -