SC chief justice wants 9 new judges

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina’s top jurist says she needs nine new judges to run the state’s court system more effectively.

Chief Justice Jean Toal told state lawmakers Wednesday in her annual address that she can pay for three new circuit court judges and six new family court judges by implementing an electronic filing system.

Toal told a joint session of the General Assembly that the Judicial Department can handle the system in house. She says that will allow the court system to reap any fees generated by the program instead of paying them to an outside vendor.

Toal says each judge’s average caseload in South Carolina is more than twice the national average. South Carolina has 53 active Circuit Court judges and 60 judges on the Family Court level.

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Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP