St. Clair judge: Funding shortage could delay court cases

BELLEVILLE, Ill. (AP) - St. Clair County's chief judge says court cases will be delayed if state funding to pay court reporters doesn't arrive soon.

The Belleville News-Democrat reports (http://bitly.com/1yMfLZa ) that Circuit Court Judge John Baricevic (Bahr-EH'-sih-vich) says civil cases will need to be delayed if the money doesn't come by the end of March. He also says that defendants in criminal cases might have to be released from jail if their trials are delayed past schedule.

The issue stems from the $35.7 billion budget passed by lawmakers last spring that didn't allocate enough money to pay for expenses. The fund for court reporters is about $14 million short.

GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner has been negotiating with legislative leaders in recent weeks for expanded authority to transfer money around in the state budget.