Kentucky courts budget strained

State spending on courthouse buildings is going up even as Kentucky's judicial system struggles to pay for day-to-day operations.  Courthouses across the Commonwealth shut down September 4th for the second of three furlough days this year because of state budget cuts. 

The Courier-Journal reports that state budgets show a boom in courthouse building spending from 1998 to 2008 has resulted in the doubling of costs for debt service and related costs for buildings.  Kentucky is spending $122 million this fiscal year on debt service and related costs for buildings, double the $61 million spent in 2007.