Agency: Courts Line Item: Guardian ad Litem Function The Office of Guardian ad Litem (GAL) and Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) is a separate line item within the court's budget. The program provides state-funded attorneys to represent the best interests of minors in Juvenile Court when there is an allegation of abuse, neglect, or dependency.
A GAL may also be appointed in juvenile court for child protective order, emancipation, or delinquency cases. A GAL may also be court-appointed to represent minors when allegations of abuse or neglect arise in the District Court during divorce or custody proceedings or in a criminal case when the victim is a child.
The Office also administers the private GAL program which provides trained private attorneys to serve as GAL for children in custody disputes which do not involve allegations of abuse and/or neglect. There are Guardian ad Litem offices in all eight judicial districts. The GAL office includes a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) system that uses trained volunteers to assist attorneys in representing the best interests of children in the juvenile courts.
Statutory Authority Several sections of Utah Code guide the operations of the Guardian ad Litem. Intent Language Under Section 63J-1-603 of the Utah Code, the Legislature intends that appropriations provided for Guardian ad Litem in Item 23 of Chapter 2 Laws of Utah 2010 not lapse at the close of fiscal year 2011. Special Funds  Funding Detail As in most of the judicial budgets, funding is mostly General Fund - over 80 percent of the budget is General Fund. | Sources of Finance | 2008
Actual | 2009
Actual | 2010
Actual | 2011
Actual | 2012
Approp | | General Fund | $4,563,700 | $5,009,800 | $5,011,100 | $5,033,100 | $5,031,500 | | General Fund, One-time | $75,100 | ($86,800) | ($156,100) | $0 | $0 | | Dedicated Credits Revenue | $47,400 | $99,800 | $98,600 | $202,000 | $75,000 | | GFR - Children's Legal Defense | $437,700 | $449,200 | $449,300 | $451,300 | $449,400 | | GFR - Guardian Ad Litem Services | $355,300 | $360,900 | $355,700 | $515,300 | $364,400 | | Transfers | $0 | $0 | $494,500 | $10,300 | $0 | | Beginning Nonlapsing | $0 | $155,700 | $248,000 | $462,800 | $0 | | Closing Nonlapsing | ($155,800) | ($248,000) | ($462,800) | ($360,200) | $0 | | Total | $5,323,400 | $5,740,600 | $6,038,300 | $6,314,600 | $5,920,300 |
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| | Programs: | 2008
Actual | 2009
Actual | 2010
Actual | 2011
Actual | 2012
Approp | | Guardian ad Litem | $5,323,400 | $5,740,600 | $6,038,300 | $6,314,600 | $5,920,300 | | Total | $5,323,400 | $5,740,600 | $6,038,300 | $6,314,600 | $5,920,300 |
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| | Categories of Expenditure | 2008
Actual | 2009
Actual | 2010
Actual | 2011
Actual | 2012
Approp | | Personnel Services | $4,724,700 | $5,083,500 | $5,093,800 | $5,429,900 | $5,233,200 | | In-state Travel | $58,100 | $51,900 | $54,000 | $55,000 | $66,100 | | Out-of-state Travel | $6,100 | $500 | $13,000 | $5,200 | $2,900 | | Current Expense | $473,900 | $547,000 | $817,000 | $558,500 | $598,000 | | DP Current Expense | $54,500 | $11,000 | $47,000 | $257,000 | $0 | | DP Capital Outlay | $0 | $0 | $13,500 | $0 | $0 | | Capital Outlay | $6,100 | $0 | $0 | $9,000 | $0 | | Other Charges/Pass Thru | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $20,100 | | Transfers | $0 | $46,700 | $0 | $0 | $0 | | Total | $5,323,400 | $5,740,600 | $6,038,300 | $6,314,600 | $5,920,300 |
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| | Other Indicators | 2008
Actual | 2009
Actual | 2010
Actual | 2011
Actual | 2012
Approp | | Budgeted FTE | 55.0 | 67.0 | 69.2 | 67.8 | 65.5 | | Actual FTE | 64.0 | 67.0 | 70.0 | 71.7 | 0.0 | | Vehicles | 5 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 |
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Subcommittee Table of Contents |