Senate Study Bill 1337
SENATE/HOUSE FILE
BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON
APPROPRIATIONS BILL BY
JOINT APPROPRIATIONS
SUBCOMMITTEE ON JUSTICE
SYSTEM)
Passed Senate, Date Passed House, Date
Vote: Ayes Nays Vote: Ayes Nays
Approved
A BILL FOR
1 An Act relating to and making appropriations to the judicial
2 branch.
3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
4 TLSB 1132JB 82
5 jm/je/5
PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. JUDICIAL BRANCH.
1 2 1. There is appropriated from the general fund of the
1 3 state to the judicial branch for the fiscal year beginning
1 4 July 1, 2007, and ending June 30, 2008, the following amount,
1 5 or so much thereof as is necessary, to be used for the
1 6 purposes designated:
1 7 For salaries of supreme court justices, appellate court
1 8 judges, district court judges, district associate judges,
1 9 judicial magistrates and staff, state court administrator,
1 10 clerk of the supreme court, district court administrators,
1 11 clerks of the district court, juvenile court officers, board
1 12 of law examiners and board of examiners of shorthand reporters
1 13 and judicial qualifications commission, receipt and
1 14 disbursement of child support payments, reimbursement of the
1 15 auditor of state for expenses incurred in completing audits of
1 16 the offices of the clerks of the district court during the
1 17 fiscal year beginning July 1, 2007, and maintenance,
1 18 equipment, and miscellaneous purposes:
1 19 .................................................. $123,974,074
1 20 Of the amount appropriated in this subsection, $736,664
1 21 shall be used to implement the children's justice initiative.
1 22 The following additional court employees are authorized for
1 23 implementation of the children's justice center initiative:
1 24 two court reporters, one and one=half full=time equivalent
1 25 court attendants, four juvenile court officers, and two
1 26 juvenile court technicians. Notwithstanding the district
1 27 associate judgeship apportionment formula in section 602.6301,
1 28 two additional district associate judgeships are authorized
1 29 for implementation of the initiative, with one district
1 30 associate judgeship allocated to the fourth judicial district
1 31 and one district associate judgeship allocated to election
1 32 district 5B of the fifth judicial district.
1 33 2. The judicial branch, except for purposes of internal
1 34 processing, shall use the current state budget system, the
1 35 state payroll system, and the Iowa finance and accounting
2 1 system in administration of programs and payments for
2 2 services, and shall not duplicate the state payroll,
2 3 accounting, and budgeting systems.
2 4 3. The judicial branch shall submit monthly financial
2 5 statements to the legislative services agency and the
2 6 department of management containing all appropriated accounts
2 7 in the same manner as provided in the monthly financial status
2 8 reports and personal services usage reports of the department
2 9 of administrative services. The monthly financial statements
2 10 shall include a comparison of the dollars and percentage spent
2 11 of budgeted versus actual revenues and expenditures on a
2 12 cumulative basis for full=time equivalent positions and
2 13 dollars.
2 14 4. The judicial branch shall focus efforts upon the
2 15 collection of delinquent fines, penalties, court costs, fees,
2 16 surcharges, or similar amounts.
2 17 5. It is the intent of the general assembly that the
2 18 offices of the clerks of the district court operate in all 99
2 19 counties and be accessible to the public as much as is
2 20 reasonably possible in order to address the relative needs of
2 21 the citizens of each county.
2 22 6. The judicial branch shall continue studying the best
2 23 practices and efficiencies of each judicial district. In
2 24 identifying the most efficient judicial districts and the
2 25 districts using best practices, the judicial branch shall
2 26 consider the average cost to the judicial branch for
2 27 processing each classification of criminal offense or civil
2 28 action and the overall number of cases filed. In addition,
2 29 and as part of the best practices and efficiencies study, the
2 30 judicial branch shall study the number of judicial officers
2 31 needed throughout the state to manage current caseloads and
2 32 anticipated caseloads in the future, and shall make
2 33 recommendations, if any, as to changes in judgeship and
2 34 magistrate apportionment formulas in sections 602.6201,
2 35 602.6301, and 602.6401. The judicial branch shall file a
3 1 report regarding the study made, recommendations presented,
3 2 and actions taken pursuant to this subsection with the
3 3 co=chairpersons and ranking members of the joint
3 4 appropriations subcommittee on the justice system and to the
3 5 legislative services agency by January 1, 2008.
3 6 7. In addition to the requirements for transfers under
3 7 section 8.39, the judicial branch shall not change the
3 8 appropriations from the amounts appropriated to the judicial
3 9 branch in this Act, unless notice of the revisions is given
3 10 prior to their effective date to the legislative services
3 11 agency. The notice shall include information on the branch's
3 12 rationale for making the changes and details concerning the
3 13 workload and performance measures upon which the changes are
3 14 based.
3 15 8. The judicial branch shall submit a semiannual update to
3 16 the legislative services agency specifying the amounts of
3 17 fines, surcharges, and court costs collected using the Iowa
3 18 court information system since the last report. The judicial
3 19 branch shall continue to facilitate the sharing of vital
3 20 sentencing and other information with other state departments
3 21 and governmental agencies involved in the criminal justice
3 22 system through the Iowa court information system.
3 23 9. The judicial branch shall provide a report to the
3 24 general assembly by January 1, 2008, concerning the amounts
3 25 received and expended from the enhanced court collections fund
3 26 created in section 602.1304 and the court technology and
3 27 modernization fund created in section 602.8108, subsection 7,
3 28 during the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2006, and ending June
3 29 30, 2007, and the plans for expenditures from each fund during
3 30 the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2007, and ending June 30,
3 31 2008. A copy of the report shall be provided to the
3 32 legislative services agency.
3 33 Sec. 2. JUDICIAL RETIREMENT FUND.
3 34 1. There is appropriated from the general fund of the
3 35 state to the judicial retirement fund for the fiscal year
4 1 beginning July 1, 2007, and ending June 30, 2008, the
4 2 following amount, or so much thereof as is necessary, to be
4 3 used for the purpose designated:
4 4 Notwithstanding section 602.9104, for the state's
4 5 contribution to the judicial retirement fund in the amount of
4 6 22.5 percent of the basic salaries of the judges covered under
4 7 chapter 602, article 9:
4 8 .................................................. $ 3,450,963
4 9 2. There is appropriated from the revolving fund
4 10 created in section 602.1302 to the judicial retirement
4 11 fund for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2007, and
4 12 ending June 30, 2008, the following amount, or so much
4 13 thereof as is necessary, to be used for the purposes
4 14 designated:
4 15 As part of the state's contribution to the judicial
4 16 retirement fund in accordance with the conditions
4 17 specified in subsection 1:
4 18 .................................................. $ 2,000,000
4 19 Sec. 3. POSTING OF REPORTS IN ELECTRONIC FORMAT ==
4 20 LEGISLATIVE SERVICES AGENCY. All reports or copies of reports
4 21 required to be provided by the judicial branch for fiscal year
4 22 2007=2008 to the legislative services agency shall be provided
4 23 in an electronic format. The legislative services agency
4 24 shall post the reports on its internet website and shall
4 25 notify by electronic means all the members of the joint
4 26 appropriations subcommittee on the justice system when a
4 27 report is posted. Upon request, copies of the reports may be
4 28 mailed to members of the joint appropriations subcommittee on
4 29 the justice system.
4 30 EXPLANATION
4 31 This bill makes appropriations for FY 2007=2008 to the
4 32 judicial branch.
4 33 The bill makes an appropriation from the general fund of
4 34 the state and the jury and witness fees revolving fund created
4 35 in Code section 602.1302 to the judicial retirement fund.
5 1 The bill authorizes additional court employees and judicial
5 2 officers for the children's justice initiative.
5 3 LSB 1132JB 82
5 4 jm:jp/je/5