By Daniel Wiessner

ALBANY, N.Y., Nov 30 (Reuters) - New York state court administrators on Friday proposed a $1.75 billion budget for fiscal year 2014 that holds total spending flat while increasing funding for civil legal services and earmarking money for judicial raises.

The plan was submitted to Governor Andrew Cuomo and state lawmakers, who have until April 1 to adopt the state budget.

"This budget reflects a careful balancing of the judiciary's obligation to work with the other branches in addressing the state's continuing fiscal crisis, particularly in light of the impact of Hurricane Sandy, while also ensuring that the courts can meet their constitutional duty to provide fair and timely justice," Chief Administrative Judge A. Gail Prudenti wrote in a letter Friday to state officials.

The plan proposes a $200,000, or 0.012 percent, decrease in spending from the current fiscal year, and calls for a 60 percent increase in funding for civil legal service programs, to $40 million.

The proposal comes as state lawmakers grapple with a roughly $2 billion deficit next year.

Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman has made the provision of legal services for the poor a top priority. This year, he pushed lawmakers to double funding for the programs to $25 million.

The proposal also provides for a 4.3 percent salary increase for state judges. Last year, they received 17 percent raises after a panel created by the legislature recommended a 27 percent hike over three years. State Supreme Court justices had been earning a base salary of $136,700 in 2011, which is set to rise to $174,000 in 2014.

In 2011 the court system was hit with $170 million in cuts, which led to hundreds of layoffs, shorter court hours and program cutbacks.

According to the budget's executive summary, court administrators were able to present a flat budget, despite increases for some programs, by saving money through automation of court operations and an expansion of electronic filing.

Courts also have cut costs by scaling back hours and not filling positions created when employees retire. The court system's current staffing level of nearly 14,800 is the lowest it has been in at least a decade, according to the summary, despite a steady increase in workload. That figure does not include judges.

"Any further reduction (in funding) would seriously jeopardize the ability of the courts to fulfill their core mission," the summary reads.

'CONTINUED PROGRESS'

In addition to providing for judicial raises and increased funding for civil legal services, the spending plan earmarks nearly $11 million to help implement a caseload cap for legal aid attorneys. Under the law, which takes effect in 2014, individual attorneys may handle no more than 400 misdemeanors or 150 felonies in a 12-month period.

When the legislature passed the cap in 2009, attorneys at the Legal Aid Society handled an average of 682 misdemeanor cases a year, according to Steven Banks, the group's attorney-in-chief.

The group has hired 175 attorneys since 2009, and the average caseload is down to 517 a year.

"The additional funding is essential to ensure our continued progress," Banks said.

He also praised the proposal to increase civil legal service funding, saying demand had "increased exponentially" in the weeks since Superstorm Sandy wreaked havoc across New York City and Long Island.

The presidents of the New York State and New York City bar associations on Friday applauded the budget proposals in separate statements. Seymour James, the president of the state bar, urged state lawmakers to approve the plan "so that the court system can maintain its basic operations."

State Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman John Bonacic, a Republican from Orange County, said, "I look forward to seeing the budget enacted with appropriate support for the judges' goals of enfacing funding for civil legal services."

The legislature will begin budget deliberations in February, after Cuomo presents his executive budget proposals. His budget office has called on state agencies to present zero-growth proposals.

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