House File 2769 H-8449 Amend House File 2769 as follows: 1 1. By striking everything after the enacting clause and 2 inserting: 3 < Section 1. JUDICIAL BRANCH. 4 1. There is appropriated from the general fund of the state 5 to the judicial branch for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 6 2026, and ending June 30, 2027, the following amounts, or so 7 much thereof as is necessary, to be used for the purposes 8 designated: 9 a. For salaries of supreme court justices, appellate court 10 judges, district court judges, district associate judges, 11 associate juvenile judges, associate probate judges, judicial 12 magistrates and staff, state court administrator, clerk of 13 the supreme court, district court administrators, clerks of 14 the district court, juvenile court officers, board of law 15 examiners, board of examiners of shorthand reporters, and 16 commission on judicial qualifications; receipt and disbursement 17 of child support payments; reimbursement of the auditor 18 of state for expenses incurred in completing audits of the 19 offices of the clerks of the district court during the fiscal 20 year beginning July 1, 2026; and maintenance, equipment, and 21 miscellaneous purposes: 22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $202,691,378 23 b. For deposit in the revolving fund created pursuant to 24 section 602.1302, subsection 3 , for jury and witness fees, 25 mileage, costs related to summoning jurors, costs and fees for 26 interpreters and translators, and reimbursement of attorney 27 fees paid by the state public defender: 28 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 3,600,000 29 c. For payment of expenses for court-ordered services 30 provided to juveniles who are under the supervision of juvenile 31 court services, which expenses are a charge upon the state 32 pursuant to section 232.141, subsection 4 : 33 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 3,290,000 34 (1) Of the moneys appropriated in this lettered paragraph, 35 -1- HF 2769.4419 (1) 91 lh/ns 1/ 6 #1.

no more than $1,556,000 is allocated to provide school-based 1 supervision of children under chapter 232 , of which no more 2 than $25,000 may be used for purposes of training. 3 (2) Notwithstanding section 232.141 or any other provision 4 of law to the contrary, the moneys appropriated in this 5 lettered paragraph shall be distributed to the judicial 6 districts as determined by the state court administrator. The 7 state court administrator shall make the determination of the 8 distribution amounts within thirty days of the date on which 9 the annual census data is released. 10 (3) Notwithstanding chapter 232 or any other provision of 11 law to the contrary, a district or juvenile court shall not 12 order any service which is a charge upon the state pursuant 13 to section 232.141 if there are insufficient court-ordered 14 services moneys available in the district court distribution 15 amounts to pay for the service. The chief juvenile court 16 officer shall encourage use of the moneys appropriated in this 17 lettered paragraph such that there are sufficient moneys to pay 18 for all court-ordered services during the entire fiscal year. 19 The chief juvenile court officer shall attempt to anticipate 20 potential surpluses and shortfalls in the distribution amounts 21 and shall cooperatively request the state court administrator 22 to transfer moneys between the judicial districts’ distribution 23 amounts as prudent. 24 (4) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, 25 a district or juvenile court shall not order a county to pay 26 for any service provided to a juvenile pursuant to an order 27 entered under chapter 232 which is a charge upon the state 28 under section 232.141, subsection 4 . 29 (5) Of the moneys appropriated in this lettered paragraph, 30 no more than $83,000 may be used by the judicial branch 31 for administration of the requirements under this lettered 32 paragraph. 33 (6) Of the moneys appropriated in this lettered paragraph, 34 an amount not to exceed the actual cost of the annual 35 -2- HF 2769.4419 (1) 91 lh/ns 2/ 6

membership fee is allocated to the judicial branch to support 1 the interstate commission for juveniles in accordance with 2 the interstate compact for juveniles as provided in section 3 232.173 . 4 (7) Notwithstanding section 8.33 , moneys appropriated in 5 this lettered paragraph that remain unencumbered or unobligated 6 at the close of the fiscal year shall not revert but shall 7 remain available for expenditure for the purposes designated 8 until the close of the fiscal year that begins July 1, 2029. 9 d. For juvenile delinquent graduated sanctions services 10 pursuant to section 232.192 : 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 12,253,000 12 (1) Any state moneys saved as a result of efforts by 13 juvenile court services to earn a federal fund match pursuant 14 to Tit. IV-E of the federal Family First Prevention Services 15 Act of 2018, Pub. L. No. 115-123, for juvenile court services 16 administration is appropriated to the judicial branch for 17 purposes of this lettered paragraph. 18 (2) Notwithstanding section 8.33 , moneys appropriated in 19 this lettered paragraph that remain unencumbered or unobligated 20 at the close of the fiscal year shall not revert but shall 21 remain available for expenditure for the purposes designated 22 until the close of the fiscal year that begins July 1, 2029. 23 e. For salaries of business court judges and the 24 establishment and operation of a specialty business court 25 pursuant to 2026 Iowa Acts, Senate File 639, if enacted: 26 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 500,000 27 2. The judicial branch, except for purposes of internal 28 processing, shall use the current state budget system, the 29 state payroll system, and the Iowa finance and accounting 30 system in administration of programs and payments for services, 31 and shall not duplicate the state payroll, accounting, and 32 budgeting systems. 33 3. The judicial branch shall submit monthly financial 34 statements to the legislative services agency and the 35 -3- HF 2769.4419 (1) 91 lh/ns 3/ 6

department of management containing all appropriated accounts 1 in the same manner as provided in the monthly financial status 2 reports and personal services usage reports of the department 3 of administrative services. The monthly financial statements 4 must include a comparison of the dollars and percentage 5 spent of budgeted versus actual revenues and expenditures on 6 a cumulative basis for full-time equivalent positions and 7 dollars. 8 4. The judicial branch shall focus efforts upon the 9 collection of delinquent fines, penalties, court costs, fees, 10 surcharges, or similar amounts. 11 5. It is the intent of the general assembly that the offices 12 of the clerks of the district court operate in all 99 counties 13 and be accessible to the public as much as is reasonably 14 possible in order to address the relative needs of the citizens 15 of each county. An office of the clerk of the district court 16 shall be open regular courthouse hours. 17 6. In addition to the requirements for transfers under 18 section 8.39 , the judicial branch shall not change the 19 appropriations from the amounts appropriated to the judicial 20 branch in this Act unless notice of the revisions is given to 21 the legislative services agency prior to the effective date. 22 The notice must include information on the judicial branch’s 23 rationale for making the changes and details concerning the 24 workload and performance measures upon which the changes are 25 based. 26 7. The judicial branch shall submit a semiannual update to 27 the legislative services agency and department of management 28 specifying the amounts of fines, surcharges, and court costs 29 collected using the Iowa court information system since the 30 last report. The judicial branch shall continue to facilitate 31 the sharing of vital sentencing and other information with 32 other state departments and governmental agencies involved in 33 the criminal justice system through the Iowa court information 34 system. 35 -4- HF 2769.4419 (1) 91 lh/ns 4/ 6

8. The judicial branch shall provide a report to the general 1 assembly and department of management by January 1, 2027, 2 concerning the amounts received and expended from the court 3 technology and modernization fund created in section 602.8108, 4 subsection 7 , during the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, 5 and ending June 30, 2026, and the plans for expenditures from 6 the fund during the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026, and 7 ending June 30, 2027. 8 Sec. 2. CIVIL TRIALS —— LOCATION. Notwithstanding any 9 provision to the contrary, for the fiscal year beginning July 10 1, 2026, and ending June 30, 2027, if all parties in a case 11 agree, a civil trial including a jury trial may take place in a 12 county contiguous to the county with proper jurisdiction, even 13 if the contiguous county is located in an adjacent judicial 14 district or judicial election district. If the trial is moved 15 pursuant to this section, court personnel shall treat the case 16 as if a change of venue occurred. 17 Sec. 3. TRAVEL REIMBURSEMENT. Notwithstanding section 18 602.1509 , for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026, and 19 ending June 30, 2027, a judicial officer may waive travel 20 reimbursement for any travel outside the judicial officer’s 21 county of residence to conduct official judicial business. 22 Sec. 4. JUDICIAL OFFICER —— UNPAID LEAVE. Notwithstanding 23 the annual salary rates for judicial officers established by 24 2025 Iowa Acts, chapter 158, section 6, for the fiscal year 25 beginning July 1, 2026, and ending June 30, 2027, the supreme 26 court may by order place all judicial officers on unpaid leave 27 status on any day employees of the judicial branch are placed 28 on temporary layoff status. The biweekly pay of the judicial 29 officers shall be reduced accordingly for the pay period in 30 which the unpaid leave date occurred in the same manner as 31 for noncontract employees of the judicial branch. Through 32 the course of the fiscal year, the judicial branch may use an 33 amount equal to the aggregate amount of salary reductions due 34 to the judicial officer unpaid leave days for any purpose other 35 -5- HF 2769.4419 (1) 91 lh/ns 5/ 6

than for judicial salaries. 1 Sec. 5. IOWA COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK. It is the intent 2 of the general assembly that the judicial branch utilize 3 the Iowa communications network or other secure electronic 4 communications in lieu of traveling for the fiscal year 5 beginning July 1, 2026, and ending June 30, 2027. 6 Sec. 6. Section 602.1202, Code 2026, is amended to read as 7 follows: 8 602.1202 Judicial council. 9 1. A judicial council is established, consisting of the 10 chief judges of the judicial districts, the chief judge of 11 the court of appeals, and the chief justice who shall be the 12 chairperson. The council shall convene not less than twice 13 each year at times and places as ordered by the chief justice. 14 The council shall advise the supreme court with respect to the 15 supervision and administration of the judicial branch. 16 2. A meeting of the judicial council in which the judicial 17 retirement system is discussed shall not be held as a closed 18 session under section 21.5. 19 Sec. 7. Section 602.9102, Code 2026, is amended to read as 20 follows: 21 602.9102 Administered by court administrator. 22 1. The court administrator shall be vested with authority is 23 authorized to administer the system and related reports and may 24 promulgate rules therefor not inconsistent with the provisions 25 of this article . 26 2. The state court administrator shall advise the 27 judicial council on all determinations made by the state court 28 administrator concerning the judicial retirement system. > 29 ______________________________ LOHSE of Polk -6- HF 2769.4419 (1) 91 lh/ns 6/ 6