Testimony from Trial Court Chief Justice Heidi E. Brieger
Introduction
Good afternoon, Chair Feeney and Chair Biele and Honorable Members of the Joint Ways and Means Committee. My name is Heidi Brieger, and I am honored to serve as the Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Trial Court. As we have shared during our individual meetings with many of you and your colleagues, we greatly appreciate your continued support (especially during a particularly difficult budget last year). Without your support, the Trial Court could not have provided access to justice for thousands of court users daily across the Commonwealth. We are here today to ask for your support in closing a $13 million gap in the Fiscal Year 2027 House 2 budget that is essential to maintaining court operations and recent progress.
Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Request
Our Fiscal Year 2027 maintenance budget request is $1.013 billion. This amount supports approximately 393 Judges, 6,590 employees and the daily operations of 94 courthouses. As Court Administrator Tom Ambrosino will explain in more detail, in House 2, the Governor gave us all but $13 million of what we asked for. Unfortunately, because our maintenance budget reflects only the resources absolutely necessary to sustain current operations, without expansion, the $13 million shortfall, if not addressed, will result in substantial staffing shortages among session clerks, probation officers, and court officers, resulting in fewer open courtrooms, longer wait times for hearings, and delays in decisions for the public. We are making enormous strides in our delivery of justice but cannot maintain progress if we cannot replace some of our retired and departed workforce.
Trial Court Progress
While case filings dropped during Covid, they have now returned to or exceeded pre-Covid numbers. In Fiscal Year 2025, we received 831,677 filings—6.7% more than Fiscal Year 2024 and 16.3% more than Fiscal Year 2023.
In the current fiscal year, the clearance rates for each of the seven court departments exceeded 100 % (except for the Land Court which was 99%). This is a notable achievement and reflects the sustained effort of judges and staff across the Trial Court. Our mission is justice with dignity and speed. Court users have the right to expect timely decisions in their cases. To that end, I requested that the Chief Justices of every court ensure that judicial decisions be completed within 180 days of being taken under advisement. I am pleased to report that each Chief Justice is holding their judges accountable to that goal.
To expedite Care and Protection matters, the Juvenile Court, under the leadership of its new Chief Justice Dana Gershengorn, reached a clearance rate of 107%, and substantially rewrote its rules to make consecutive trial days the norm and require completion of trials within 30 days. These changes are already improving timeliness and helping children move to permanency more quickly.
We continue to work closely with the Office of the Child Advocate to establish a new protocol for application of the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children, as well as other initiatives to improve the outcomes for children in foster care. I look forward to reporting on our continued progress in that area at this hearing next year.
The Probate and Family Court also reached a clearance rate of 107% under its new Chief Justice, Brian Dunn. This court department has reduced the number of matters that are pending beyond the time standards by 31%. Chief Justice Dunn has also established new court sessions in Essex and Middlesex Counties, which has improved the delivery of justice in those busy counties and increased access to justice for court users.
The Housing Court, under the leadership of Chief Justice Diana Horan, has implemented the eviction sealing provisions of the Affordable Homes Act. In collaboration with the Suffolk University Legal Innovation & Technology Lab, the Housing Court introduced a free, online guided interview tool to simplify the eviction sealing process. Tenants respond to simple questions to generate the petition to seal and can then e-file the petition directly. Since eviction sealing went into effect on May 5, 2025, we have received and processed more than 4,700 petitions to seal an eviction. Additionally, the Housing Court has established two new sessions in Stoughton and Barnstable to ease backlogs in those courts.
Access to Justice
I want to tell you about the numerous ongoing initiatives relating to Access to Justice;
I. Emerging Adult Pilot Court Sessions
The District Court, led by Chief Justice Stacey Fortes, in collaboration with our Probation Services under Commissioner Pamerson Ifill, is planning Emerging Adult court session pilots in seven district courts statewide. These court sessions, recognizing the brain science about this cohort, will specifically address the particular issues of emerging adult population and will emphasize substance use disorder treatment, job training, and close supervision by Probation Officers. We will track the outcomes of these pilots closely and if proven effective, we intend to implement them statewide.
II. Emerging Adult Statewide Training
To support these pilots, Probation Services will hold a two-day Emerging Adult Justice training on April 27 and 28. This program is designed to equip justice and community partners with the knowledge and skills necessary to improve outcomes for justice-involved young adults. It will include interactive sessions, expert presentations, experiential learning, and peer discussions, emphasizing brain science, restorative justice practices, positive youth development, trauma-informed care, and resilience-building. We have invited both Judiciary Chairs and their staff members to this training.
III. Free Superior Court Mediation
The Superior Court, under the leadership of Chief Justice Michael Ricciuti, is partnering with the Massachusetts Bar Association (MBA) to pilot a free, voluntary mediation session for civil cases where there is an indigent party or where the amount in controversy does not support an expensive and lengthy trial. MBA members have volunteered their time to mediate these cases, and the program will be administered by the Superior Court.
IV. BMC Firearms Court Session
Boston Municipal Court (BMC) Chief Justice Tracy Lyons has established a separate firearms session in BMC Central, located in the Brooke Courthouse. This dedicated session ensures these cases are prioritized, resolved more quickly, and handled with consistent and focused judicial attention. To date, this firearms session has resolved 62% of the firearms cases pending in that court.
V. Remote Court Hearings
All the court departments are increasing the number of hearings held remotely for the convenience of the bar and litigants. We know that accessing the courthouse can present barriers; court users face transportation challenges, disability or health issues, childcare issues, and work constraints. Reducing these barriers improves participation, reduces missed appearances, and expands meaningful access to justice.
VI. eFiling
Our goal is to become a paperless court system; eFiling is foundational to that goal. The pioneering Land Court, under the leadership of Chief Justice Gordon Piper, is the first court to become truly “digital.” Nearly 100% of its filings are electronic. eFiling is now available in every court department, even for care and protection cases in the Juvenile Court, which had to work with the Department of Children and Families to synchronize their technologies. All courts are working to expand eFiling to more case types, technology and funding permitting.
VII. Wi-Fi in our Courthouses
Our level of judicial productivity relies heavily upon our very strong Information Technology (IT) Department which is ably led by Steve Duncan. Within the constraints of our IT budget and limited IT Bond funding allocation, we are maximizing every available resource to transform ourselves into a digital court. We have successfully implemented a new document management system and are in the midst of replacing Probation’s case management system. By the end of June, we will have Wi-Fi available in every single one of our courthouses. Last October alone, 44,251 members of the public accessed courthouse Wi-Fi, demonstrating how essential this infrastructure has become.
Conclusion
We are judging and budgeting, in very challenging times, both in the Commonwealth and in the country. Now is the time in our nation’s history, a time of increasing demand on the courts, to strengthen and fortify the Judiciary. I respectfully ask for your support in closing the $13 million gap between our request and House 2 so that we can sustain the progress we have made and continue delivering timely justice across the Commonwealth.
Thank you again for the opportunity to speak to you today. You and your colleagues are welcome at any time in any of our courts to see for yourselves the outstanding work going on there. I will now turn this over to my partner in justice, Court Administrator Tom Ambrosino, to tell you more specifically about our budget needs.
Testimony from Trial Court Administrator Thomas G. Ambrosino
Introduction
Good afternoon, Chairs Feeney and Biele, and Honorable members of the Joint Committee on Ways and Means. My name is Tom Ambrosino, and I serve as Court Administrator for the Massachusetts Trial Court. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the Trial Court’s Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27) budget needs. At the outset, I want to express our deep appreciation for your continued support of the court system. Your investments have enabled us to strengthen operations and ensure that court users across the Commonwealth have access to justice that is both efficient and dignified.
Today, we come before you with a straightforward request: the resources necessary to sustain current operations. Our FY27 budget need is $1.013 billion, which represents an increase of $42 million, or 4.3 percent, over our Fiscal Year 2026 appropriation of $970.7 million. This request does not include new initiatives or program expansion; it reflects the cost of maintaining the services the public relies on every day. While that increase may appear significant at first glance, it is driven by three primary and unavoidable cost pressures facing the Trial Court in the coming fiscal year. I will briefly outline each of these for the Committee.
I. Collective Bargaining Increases
The first and largest cost driver is the cost of living adjustment (COLA) increase scheduled for FY27, primarily for our union employees. That increase alone totals $25.5 million. FY27 represents the final year of the three-year collective bargaining agreements negotiated with all statewide unions and approved by this Legislature. These agreements provide for a “2 and 2” increase: a two percent salary adjustment in July and an additional two percent in January. In addition, we must annualize the two percent increase implemented in January of this year. As a result, the total impact to the Trial Court in FY27 exceeds four percent.
It is important to note that the Trial Court has the largest unionized payroll in the Commonwealth – larger than any other state agency. As a result, statewide COLA increases have a disproportionate impact on our budget. This single item accounts for $25.5 million of the $42 million total increase.
II. Lease Costs
The second major cost driver is the increase in lease and utility expenses, totaling $11.1 million. The Trial Court leases more than 50 facilities across the Commonwealth, and annual lease escalations are a consistent budget pressure. However, FY27 presents a unique challenge. For the first time, the Trial Court is required to absorb the cost of temporary “swing space” leases associated with major capital projects. Specifically, we must fund new leases to support the construction of the Quincy Regional Justice Center and the renovation and expansion of the Lynn District Court. These two temporary leases alone carry an annual cost of more than $8 million and represent a significant portion of the overall increase. This is a new and substantial cost pressure for the Trial Court and the second of the three key factors driving our FY27 budget need.
III. Information Technology Costs
The third cost driver is $5.3 million in increased IT operating expenses associated with our ongoing IT modernization efforts. As you know, in August 2022, the Legislature enacted a $165 million IT bond bill for the Judicial Branch – our first in more than 25 years. That investment is enabling the Trial Court to transition toward a modern, digital court system.
We are now approximately halfway through that transformation. Over the past three years, we have made significant progress, including upgrading network infrastructure, installing high-speed Wi-Fi in nearly all 94 courthouses, advancing a new case management system for the appellate courts, and implementing a document management system for the Trial Court. We have also begun working on digital signage and courtroom technology upgrades. However, these capital investments bring with them ongoing operating costs, including software licensing, data storage, and enhanced cybersecurity protections.
One illustrative example is Wi-Fi. Providing high-speed connectivity in courthouses has significantly improved the experience for all court users, especially jurors who now can utilize their personal devices while they are waiting at courthouses. But this Wi-Fi service comes with increased costs from our carriers. In FY27, we estimate that bill alone will be $1.3 million higher than in FY26.
When combined – $25.5 million for collective bargaining increases, $11.1 million for lease and facility costs, and $5.3 million for IT operations – these three items account for nearly the entire $42 million increase required to maintain current operations in Fiscal Year 2027.
Governor’s Budget (H2)
The Governor’s House 2 budget provides $999.8 million for the Trial Court – just under $1 billion – for which we are appreciative. We recognize the challenges inherent in this budget cycle and are grateful for that level of support. This represents a strong starting point. However, it leaves a gap of approximately $13 million between the proposed funding level and the resources needed to sustain existing services. We respectfully ask for your partnership in closing that gap.
Court System Impact
We know this is a budget cycle filled with uncertainty, and we want to be transparent about what is at stake. As I testified last year, if funding for the court system falls short, there will be a real-world impact on our court users systemwide. The Trial Court’s budget is largely personnel-driven, with approximately 70% allocated to salaries. As a result, funding shortfalls directly affect staffing levels and, in turn, the services available to the public and your constituents. I can tell you that as of this morning, we are down almost 300 employees from where we were last year at this time due to the cost-cutting measures we had to implement in Fiscal Year 2026. Many of our offices are short-staffed, and we are at a point where we have had to cancel some court sessions due to a lack of personnel.
Our goal in Fiscal Year 2027 is to stabilize operations and avoid further service impacts. Targeted support, particularly with respect to the temporary lease costs in Quincy and Lynn, would make a meaningful difference in helping us achieve that goal.
Conclusion
At its core, this request is about sustaining the Trial Court’s ability to deliver timely and meaningful access to justice in every community across the Commonwealth. We fully recognize the many competing demands on the state budget and appreciate the careful consideration that goes into every funding decision. The gap we have outlined reflects a small number of significant, unavoidable cost drivers, not new initiatives or program expansion.
The Trial Court remains committed to operating efficiently, managing resources responsibly, and continuing to find ways to improve how we serve the public. We are grateful for the strong foundation reflected in the House 2 budget, and we respectfully ask for your partnership in closing the remaining gap so that we can maintain the level of service that the public, and this Legislature, expect and deserve.
I thank you again for your time and your attention, and I’m happy to answer any questions you may have.
| Date published: | March 24, 2026 |
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