New York's $2.7 billion court system is on solid footing, Chief Administrative Judge Joseph A. Zayas said as he prepares his second judiciary budget request for lawmakers.

Just 16 months into the job, Zayas continues on a quest to diversify the administrative ranks, improve judicial morale and move along backlogged cases within the system of 15,000-plus nonjudicial staff and more than 1,300 state-paid judges.