Castro said the law clerk position has been vacant since Sept. 25, 2010 and there has been no deputy clerk III since Feb. 18, 2011, which had significantly affected workflow at the Office of the Clerk of Court.
“At the onset of this fiscal year, we suspended hiring of a replacement of a law clerk due to our budget situation, but we have since determined that this position cannot remain unfilled due to the workload of the five chambers. It is essential to meet the docket demands and chamber activities,” Castro wrote to the lawmakers.
He said funding for the salaries of the two vacant positions have been identified. The amounts were not disclosed.
“The deputy clerk position, vacated last month, has left an immediate void in courtroom readiness since there is an existing shortage of staff in the Office of the Clerk of Court. The filling of this vacancy would allow immediate attention to the processing of documents and case management issues,” the acting chief justice added.
The judicial branch, just like the central government which observes the shutdown of public offices every other Friday, also implements its own austerity measures.
Local courts on Tinian and Rota are closed every Monday while the Saipan court has been partially closed every Friday and only staff designated to address docket matters are asked to report for work.
