Harris
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Legal Newsline) - California Attorney General Kamala Harris will lay off more than 100 agents from her office, according to reports.
A spokeswoman with Harris' office told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the attorney general will lay off 102 agents and 21 civilian employees next year due to budget cuts.
Originally, more than 200 agents were expected to be let go, but Harris found the funds to keep more of them, the AP reported.
It remains unclear how many programs and task forces in the justice department will survive the cuts.
However, Harris' department isn't the only state entity having to make tough decisions in the wake of budget shortfalls.
In August, the Judicial Council of California, the policymaking body of the California courts, voted down a proposal to authorize a new fee in complex civil cases.
The fee, which would have charged for the appearance of each attorney at a case management conference, was intended to provide additional funding to the state's 58 trial courts and to help offset a $350 billion budget reduction.
Though the council voted down the proposal, saying amending a rule to establish the fee was inconsistent with state law, it agreed to study the possibility of other new fees to help offset the budget reduction.
The budget cut, passed by the Legislature and approved by Gov. Jerry Brown -- Harris' predecessor -- earlier this year, is the deepest reduction in state court history.
From Legal Newsline: Reach Jessica Karmasek by email at jessica@legalnewsline.com.