Pulaski Circuit Court Reverses Change in Posted Operating Hours, Amid Confusion

Pulaski Circuit Judge Michael Shurn is trying to clear up some confusion about recent changes to the court’s hours of operation.

During last week’s county council meeting, it was learned that Circuit Court would temporarily be open from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., instead of its usual hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. However, Shurn told the county commissioners Monday that while the posted hours changed, the court’s actual operation is staying the same. “We’re 8:00 to 4:00,” he said. “That’s when we ensure, by law, that somebody is in the office, if the public needs to meet with somebody from the court and a judge is available, because there could be times when I’m at a conference and a staff member would not be there at 7:00. Now having said that, we are working outside the hours. For 23 years, I’ve done that, and so that’s nothing new.”

He said the posted hours were extended at the request of another office holder, apparently to make it easier to calculate staff members’ overtime. “They thought that was necessary for their staff to work overtime, if necessary,” Shurn said. “I don’t think that’s necessary, and it was an erroneous posting. So I’m taking that down and I’m posting our normal hours are 8:00 to 4:00 because we are 8:00 to 4:00. Now, that doesn’t say we work 8:00 to 4:00. I mean, I don’t think it’s necessary. Every office holder can decide if they have to work overtime within their parameters and ask for overtime, if that’s necessary.”

In any case, overtime costs are adding up. Prosecutor Dan Murphy says he needs another $9,400, while Shurn is requesting an additional $10,000 for his overtime budget.

Shurn says a lot of the extra work has to do with Crystal Brucker Kocher’s appointment as Superior Court judge this past summer. There are several cases she’s not allowed to hear because she worked on them when she was chief deputy prosecutor. “Indianapolis said she had to transfer all of those cases to our court, so we have all of her cases overlaid over top of our ordinary day,” Shurn said. “So we’re just working through those, and we hope we get through the lion’s share of the process by the end of the year. Otherwise, I couldn’t afford to have my staff gone and all of the comp time they would be accruing, realistically, so I’ve had a budget for overtime for this whole year, pretty much used it up now, and so that’s why we asked for an additional.”

The county council is expected to consider those additional appropriations requests next month.