Washington’s court system is warning lawmakers that years of flat funding have pushed the judiciary to a critical threshold, with no relief in sight.
A proposed $18 million cut in federal funding threatens to accelerate a crisis already defined by staffing shortages, rising caseloads, and mounting security threats.
DC Courts Executive Officer Herbert Rouson Jr. has been among the most vocal officials sounding the alarm, warning that the system has exhausted its available resources.
Rouson told WJLA that criminal filings rose sharply from roughly 7,000 cases in 2023, representing a dramatic strain on court operations and personnel.
He also noted that the courts have been funded at essentially a flat level since fiscal year 2023, leaving little room to absorb surging demand.
Budget documents from the court system show the fiscal year 2023 enacted operating budget was approximately $244.3 million in total funding.
That figure included approximately $141 million for DC Superior Court, $88.3 million for the Court System, and $15.1 million for the Court of Appeals.
The DC Sentencing Commission’s 2025 annual report found that adult felony cases filed in Superior Court rose 44 percent from 2024, a significant one-year jump.
The same report found that 53 percent of felony cases filed in 2025 were still pending disposition as of January 2026, because courts could not process them quickly enough.
Victims, defendants, and families across the District are being forced to wait longer for resolution as the backlog grows deeper with each passing month.
Security concerns are compounding the financial pressure, with threats against judges and court employees becoming more frequent, more serious, and more costly to address.
When two US Supreme Court justices took the unusual step of appearing before Congress, they made clear that judicial security has become a far more resource-intensive challenge than in prior years.
DC’s court system faces that same increasingly complex security environment while simultaneously confronting one of the sharpest caseload increases in recent memory.
Court officials argue that without a meaningful funding increase from Congress, delays will deepen and the system’s ability to deliver timely justice will continue to erode.
The funding battle is unfolding against a broader backdrop of federal budget tensions, with lawmakers weighing cuts across multiple government-funded institutions and programs.
Legal advocates and court administrators say the consequences of inaction will fall hardest on ordinary residents who depend on a functioning judiciary for resolution of criminal and civil matters.
