§ 8-15-4. Appointment of court administrator and assistants.
(a) The chief justice shall appoint a court administrator and such assistants as he or
she deems necessary to aid in the administration of the judicial system. The administrator
and his or her assistants shall serve at the pleasure of the chief justice.
(b) The court administrator shall, under the direction of the chief justice, prepare an
annual budget for the judicial system and submit the budget to the department of administration
and perform all other necessary functions relating to the administration of the courts
thereof.
(c) It shall be the responsibility of the court administrator, under the direction of
the chief justice, to act upon all administrative matters affecting the operation
of the judiciary, including, but not limited to:
(1) The preparation of the judicial payrolls;
(2) The control of judicial appropriations for all state courts, except those as provided
otherwise by law;
(3) The procuring of office space, supplies, equipment, and professional and technical
assistants for the judiciary; and
(d) The court administrator, with the written approval of the chief justice, is authorized
and empowered to adopt any rules and regulations that are deemed necessary to accomplish
the purposes of this section, a copy of which rules and regulations shall be filed
with the secretary of state and available for public inspection. In the formation
of these rules and regulations, the judiciary shall take into consideration and conform
to, where practicable, existing policies governing financial and personnel practices
within the executive branch of government.
(e) The court administrator shall, under the direction of the chief justice, assume control
of and supervise the maintenance and repair of all buildings housing the supreme and
several inferior courts of justice throughout the state of Rhode Island. The general
assembly shall appropriate sufficient amounts in the court budget to enable the court
administrator to implement the provisions of this section.
(f) The preparation of the annual budget for the judiciary and all state courts including
salaries.