The committees neither reject nor disapprove Camacho’s appointment, but they will recommend to “respectfully” request Fitial to withdraw the nomination, Variety learned.
The draft report said holding off the nomination will save the CNMI government $308,000 in annual salary and other expenses.
A CNMI judge gets a total of $156,000 in salary and benefits. The judge’s clerk gets a total of $59,000; the secretary, $43,000; and miscellaneous expenses are estimated to amount to $50,000.
These funds, the report said, could be used elsewhere in the judiciary which is struggling financially.
The judiciary also has a duty to get an attorney for indigent defendants in criminal, traffic and juvenile cases, the report said.
It noted an increase in court-appointed counsels from 152 in 2008 to 206 in 2009. The judiciary is constitutionally mandated to provide counsels to indigent defendants.
The rising cost of court-appointed counsels sets a financial burden on the judiciary, the report stated.
Not appointing a new judge may possibly help the courts financially so it can continue to provide needed services to the CNMI people, the report added.
Fewer cases
The draft report pointed out that a temporary hold in filling the vacancy on the court “will not unduly reduce services.”
The CNMI judiciary has noted a reduced number of cases filed.
A Superior Court report showed that from 5,589 in 2000, the total number of cases filed went down to 4,503 in 2009. In the years between, the report indicated a continuous drop of cases.
10,515 cases in 2004 went down to 8,076 in 2005. Although there was a slight increase in 2006 when 8,250 cases were filed, there was a drastic drop in 2007 when 5,630 cases were filed. This further dropped to 4,728 in 2008 and 4,503 in 2009.
The draft report stated that by any measure, except family cases, it appears that the judiciary is handling fewer cases.
This, the report added, gives the CNMI a chance to cut government expenses.
All these circumstances, the report stated, occurred prior to the nomination of Camacho.
The report said the previous Legislature made several attempts to cut government cost, including the proposal to reduce the salaries of justices and judges who receive more than the national average based on the National Center for State Courts statistics.
The current Legislature is considering the same cost-cutting measures, including Senate Legislative Initiative 17-11 which will reduce the number of associate judges from four to three.
Chaired by Sen. Jovita M. Taimanao, the Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee was on Rota yesterday discussing the fiscal year budget with the municipal government.
The committee held the same meeting on Tinian last Monday, and with various government agencies over the last two weeks.
Taimanao, Ind.-Rota, earlier told Variety that her committee had been advising all department officials to come up with their own contingency plan in preparation for a lower FY 2012 budget.
She said there will be drastic cuts in the budget of all government agencies.
