Charles Cusimano Statement
Justice of the Peace Charles Cusimano II provided the following statement regarding the WDSU I-Team report:
It was a pleasure to have the opportunity to sit down and speak freely off the record with you the other day. I hope it provided some insight into the operations of the Justice of the Peace courts. After receiving your questions however, it appears there may still be some confusion with regard to compensation arrangements for the Office of the Justices of the Peace. As discussed in further detail below, the Office of the Justices of the Peace is not a salaried position and has three significant differences from other governmental positions.
1. First, as we discussed, Justices of the Peace do not receive a salary. There is no monthly or yearly guaranteed sum the office receives. The compensation is based solely on the volume of work handled by the office. Increased volume equals increased compensation and vice versa. This of course differs from salary based compensation where an individual receives a guaranteed set amount (salary) each month.
2. Second, compensation paid to the Office of the Justice of the Peace represents the total compensation. Any expenses or benefits must be paid from that amount.
3. The last major difference is the source of the funding. For the most part, Justice of the Peace funds are self-generated and paid by the litigants themselves pursuant to a legislatively set fee schedule. These funds are not paid from pubic tax dollars. Increases or decreases in Justice of the Peace revenues have no impact on the Parish or State budget and thus have no impact on tax funded services.
In response to your inquiries regarding the need for reform of the system:
I don’t know of any system that is perfect, but before implementing any major changes I think it is important that we ask two questions:
1. Why was the system created?
2. Is it fulfilling that purpose?
Justice of the Peace court was created to provide a convenient and economical arena for citizens to resolve minor disputes not to exceed $5,000.00. The legislature sets the fee schedule to insure uniformity and low cost (most filings are $100 or less). The legislature also set geographical jurisdictional boundaries to insure convenient access for citizens throughout the entire state regardless of their domicile. The legislature then established a user based funding source that would not impact State or Local budgets so as to not compete with local government funding for needed services.
I cannot speak for all jurisdictions, but I believe the 5th District is doing a good job of providing the convenience, affordability and ease of access to the court system for the citizens of JeffersonParish as the Legislature intended. I think the increased volume the 5th District is seeing is a testament to that. We handle over 4,500 filings a year with virtually no complaints regarding docket delays or the cost of litigating.
Thank you for your interest and I hope this has helped you. Sincerely,
Charles V. Cusimano II