The Shelby County judicial system will lay off five full-time employees to deal with state budget cuts, and the top county court official said he expects cases to move more slowly.

Circuit Judge D. Al Crowson, the presiding judge of the 18th Judicial Circuit, said cuts "will be noticed most on the civil side because the criminal cases must be heard in a timely manner."

Crowson said the Judicial Administration Fund, a reserve accumulated from court costs, will help cushion the blow in the judges' offices.

The fund's income is about $1,000 a month.

The word came from Montgomery to reduce staffs to one judicial assistant per judge and to lay off all law clerks, administrative assistants and bailiffs. Shelby County has one judicial assistant per judge and no law clerks or administrative assistants.

Shelby County has four circuit judges, two district judges, four court reporters, six judicial assistants, and two full-time bailiffs. Some part-time bailiffs used during jury trials will have their hours reduced.

The two full-time bailiffs will be laid off from their full-time positions, but they will be given the option of working part-time and being paid as temporary employees, said Sue Holmes, Crowson's judicial assistant.

Some district court employees already are doing double duty, Holmes said, handling office paperwork and switching to a bailiff role when court is in session.

"We are all doing more than we can do, and it is not good for morale," she said. "There are good people here, and it is a shame they are not getting the support they deserve."

Although Shelby County Circuit Court Clerk Mary Harris is understaffed, the state budget ax is lopping off three more of her workers.

"Things are going to slow down," Harris said. "We will be doing the best we can and hope that people will understand."

The circuit court clerk's office was deemed 26 percent understaffed in the most recent manpower study by the Administrative Office of Courts, based on 1994 caseloads. Shelby is the state's fastest growing county, and its civil, criminal, and domestic relations filings have grown along with the population.

Since the study was done, Shelby County's annual new case filings have shown a 75 percent increase, Harris said.

That study did not include issuing arrest warrants as part of the clerk's responsibilities, Harris said. "We issued 4,200 warrants last year," she said.

Meanwhile, District Attorney Robby Owens is slightly better off because he lobbied a 1-cent cigarette tax through the legislative delegation before the end of the 2003 regular session. The DA's office is a part of the executive branch of the state government.

The cigarette tax, earmarked for the Shelby County District Attorney's office, will bring in up to $85,000 a year. Owens said it should prevent his having to lay off lawyers this year.

"I am losing my investigative services," he said. Don Wright, Owens' lead investigator, is retiring, and Owens said that, by not filling that job, he can avoid layoffs elsewhere.