Carbon County court is seeing an all-time high in caseloads, officials report.

During the county commissioners' meeting on Thursday, Commissioner Wayne Nothstein, chairman, asked Roberta Brewster, court administrator, to provide statistics on the increased caseloads occurring in the county court system. All statistics are between November 2011 to November 2012, but are still preliminary and not 100 percent complete.Nothstein added that his goal for the report was to show the public why county expenses are on the rise.Brewster reported that as of Dec. 5, the total number of cases filed in the Court of Common Pleas was 1,116, which is a record high for the county. Last year, the court handled 995 cases; and in 2010, 863 cases.This means that expenses and staffing costs are also higher to handle the additional caseloads, but collections in these cases are not reflecting the increase. As of November, collection totals were $1,173,918.05, which represented a less than one percent increase over last year.In addition, other departments in the courts have seen significant increases due to repeat offenders.Over the last 12 years, Adult Probation has seen a 41 percent increase in investigations, a 1,050 percent increase in field arrests, 775 percent increase in office arrests, a staggering 2,387 percent increase in Gagnon I hearings; and a 93 percent increase in active caseloads.Juvenile Delinquency cases are up 27.64 percent from last November because of issues that arose from Luzerne County, Brewster reported. Because of this, new mandates have been added to juvenile cases, which now require additional hearings, assessments, programs and staff responsibilities.Trials increased from 17 last year to 23 this year and many of them took two weeks or more to complete. This additional length in each trial cost the county more to staff the trial; pay juries; and cover court-related expenses such as expert witnesses and translators.Brewster also explained that in addition to the Court of Common Pleas, cases on the magisterial district courts are also on the rise. Total filings as of October 2012 in magisterial district courts were 18,350; up from 17,075 in 2011.Following Brewster's report, Nothstein pointed out that there are large transfers required by the county to the court system for various mandated items.Brewster noted that one of the largest items this year was court-appointed counsel, which reached about $120,000 in cost because of repeat offenders coming through the system.She added that all defendants have the right to counsel and if they cannot afford one, it is the responsibility of the county to pay for an attorney. Court-appointed counsel is paid $50 an hour outside of court; and $75 an hour in court.Nothstein thanked Brewster for giving a breakdown to show where the nearly $4 million court budget is spent throughout the year and added that maybe the county will ask other departments for detailed reports as well.This portion of the budget, which as proposed would raise the tax millage by 4 mills, is only one of the many areas Nothstein said are skyrocketing.He also discussed the 911 center, which is required to be funded by the county, has expensive updates that are needed and not funded by state or federal grants.A member of the community, Jerry F. Strubinger Sr. of Jim Thorpe, also weighed in on the county's proposed budget.During the guest portion of the meeting, Strubinger suggested the county use its $4 million fund balance to help cut down the $6 million deficit and balance the budget.Nothstein said the county cannot use its fund balance because that money is needed to help cover operating expenses between January and April until tax revenue comes in; as well as pay a $900,000 bond payment.Plus "it's not healthy to maintain a $0 fund balance," he added.The county is still working on the final budget, which is slated to be formally adopted next Thursday, Dec. 20, during the weekly commissioners' meeting.Nothstein and Commissioner Thomas J. Gerhard said that departments are working diligently to try and cut any unnecessary items in their department budgets."There are a lot of things we're looking at," Gerhard said. "I don't think any of us want to increase taxes and we're certainly going to try to do what we can to get the millage down. We have a lot of work to do yet, but we're working on it."