Local members of the General Assembly said they intend to keep an open mind as they get to work Thursday on a budget proposal that would radically alter the way state courts operate.

A subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee will hold a work session on Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's proposal to move 1,500 positions, including the departments that handle probation for adults and juveniles, from the Judicial Branch to the Department of Correction and Department of Children and Families, both of which are Executive Branch agencies. The proposal also removes all state funding for the state's 54 probate courts, which judges in the system say would result in dramatic fee increases for users.

State Rep. Ernest Hewett, D-New London, a member of the subcommittee, said he has been getting "pushback" from people who oppose the proposed budget, but is waiting to delve into the details before he expresses an opinion.

"I'll find out more as we go into subcommittee meetings, but as of right now it's not very well received," Hewett said.

State Rep. Diana Urban, D-North Stonington, a member of the Appropriations Committee and co-chairwoman of the Results-Based Accountability Committee and the Committee on Children, said she would keep an open mind about the governor's proposal but has concerns about adding responsibilities to the Department of Children and Families, which is trying to get out from more than two decades of federal oversight that resulted from a class-action lawsuit.

"The department has made extraordinary strides," she said, but giving it more responsibility "worries me."

Under the Malloy plan, 755 positions in juvenile probation, juvenile residential services and family services would transfer from the Judicial Branch's court support services division to the Department of Children and Families.

The Department of Correction would assume adult probation services and the alternative incarceration program, a total of 753 positions. The Malloy administration said the moves are part of a Second Chance Society initiative to help nonviolent offenders become productive members of society.

Judge Patrick L. Carroll III, chief court administrator, told the Appropriations Committee last week that the Judicial Branch was not consulted on the proposal and that it is unsound. The branch, which is requesting $575 million for next year, has about 4,000 employees and operates in 70 locations around the state, including 44 courthouses. In addition to handling legal matters, Connecticut's courts also are responsible for probation services, juvenile detention, child support enforcement and victim services.

"The comprehensive court-centered system and approach to supervisory and diversionary services for adults and juveniles, which has been built, methodically and systematically, on empirical evidence and proven results over 30 years - a system and approach based in the Judicial Branch which now stands as a nationally recognized and accredited model - would be abandoned if this proposal is adopted," Carroll said.

At the public hearing, former state Sen. Melodie Peters, now president of AFT Connecticut, which represents probation officers and some judicial employees, urged the legislature not to dismantle an agency that is working well. She cited a significant drop in re-arrest for probationers from 47 percent in 2007 to 4 percent in 2013.

Abby Anderson, executive director of the Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance, also speaking in opposition of the Malloy proposal, said that even though the state added 16- and 17-year-olds to the juvenile court docket, youth crime has dropped, and the state is spending $2 million less than it did a decade ago. She said that reassigning services into DCF could jeopardize victim confidentiality and deepen a domestic violence victim's fear of losing her children.

"Ultimately this move could create unintended consequences where victims will be even more reluctant to reach out for help and report domestic violence, including violations of orders of protection," Anderson said.

Speakers at the hearing also asked the committee to restore funding for the state's probate courts. The Malloy proposal eliminates the probate court line item, which included $14.8 million for the next fiscal year, from the Judicial Branch budget. The state's 54 probate courts handle legal matters related to estates, guardianships and conservatorships for the disabled and ill, and children's matters, including custody matters and adoptions.

In remarks submitted for the public hearing, Norfolk attorney Gardner Mundy called the proposal "an unannounced tax increase on the residents of the state who need access to the (probate) court's services."

Judge Paul J. Knierim, administrator of probate courts, said in a phone interview that the loss of general fund support would result in massive increases in probate fees to cover the $46 million operating budget.

"A fee that averages $150 would have to increase to over $800 just to sustain the probate system," Knierim said.

The increases would impose a greater financial burden on users and result in decreased access to the probate courts by some of the state's most vulnerable and economically disadvantaged residents, he said.

The Appropriations Committee has an April 30 deadline to act on the budget.

k.florin@theday.com

Twitter: @KFLORIN