Nevada Supreme Court Chief Justice Bill Maupin will present a proposal to lawmakers calling for a 29 percent increase in funding for the state court system. He will argue for a spending increase of about $100 million over the next biennium.

As is the case with many spending requests in Nevada, proponents argue that the state's growth necessitates more money.

(Funny how officials in states or municipalities that are actually losing population never advocate that their budgets be trimmed. Oh, well.)

"We're getting cases of ever-increasing complexity and with larger and larger records," Chief Justice Maupin said.

Among the requests: Creating a dozen new district and family court judgeships -- 10 in Las Vegas and two in the Reno area.

It's true that justice delayed is justice denied -- so ensuring that people embroiled in civil disputes or caught up in the criminal justice system receive timely resolution of their cases is indeed important. But in evaluating Chief Justice Maupin's request, lawmakers should take time to satisfy themselves that existing resources are being used efficiently.

In addition, the judges will advocate for the establishment of a state court to serve as an intermediary between the district courts and the state Supreme Court. Voters have nixed this idea twice over the past 15 years.

"With the prospective growth of the state and our caseload, it's time to move forward" with the intermediate panel, Chief Justice Maupin said last week.

If lawmakers approve the creation of an appeals court in both the 2007 and 2009 legislative sessions, the plan would again be forwarded to voters.

And if Chief Justice Maupin and his colleagues hope to persuade the electorate to finally support the idea, they'll need to do a bang-up job of explaining why -- if the system has become overwhelmed -- many of the state's courtrooms often sit dark during business hours.