BATON ROUGE - Dozens of jobs, as well as many court programs, are on the chopping block should the proposed budget be approved. Some groups, like the District Attorney's office, say they would be willing to pursue legal action should the City-Parish not provide adequate funding.

The 19th Judicial District Court, Family Court, City Court, Juvenile Court, Office of the Public Defender, and the District Attorney's Office pleaded their cases to the Metro Council on Wednesday night.

In the Mayor-President's proposed budget, each court system and the DA's Office would see an 11-percent decrease in the budget. The Public Defender's Office would be allotted roughly $855,000 out of ARPA funds.

Representatives from City Court told the council that the proposed cut would kill 21 positions. The DA'

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