Some facts about Houston County Court Administrator

Darlene Larson has been the Houston County Court Administrator for 14-1/2 years. It is an appointed position. She has five full-time, one 4/5-time, and one half-time employees. Her office schedules and processes court cases and serves as the supporting cast around Houston County District Court Judge James Fabian. They also collect fine money, help people with restraining orders, and prepare some documents for the public.

Houston County is part of the third judicial district, which also includes the counties of Dodge, Fillmore, Freeborn, Mower, Olmsted, Steele, Rice, Wabasha, Waseca, and Winona. There are 23 judges in the district, and 10 districts in the state.

ï Budget is changing: The countyís budget for court administration was $370,442 in 2003. They spent 96 percent of that, or $355,733. Now that the state is taking over funding, the budget is in transition. For example, this year it is $225,502, with the decrease coming from the fact that the employees will be state employees and not county employees as of July 1, so payroll will go down.

But the county will still be paying some expenses, such as examinations, evaluations for sex offenders; and legal fees for things like paternity and guardian cases and commitment proceedings for mental health and chemical dependency.