House File 728 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 728 BY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS (SUCCESSOR TO HSB 250) (COMPANION TO SF 563 BY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS) A BILL FOR An Act relating to the judicial branch, including 1 appropriations to the judicial branch, apportionment of 2 district associate judges, video recordings, noncontract 3 attorney appointment, and contracting authority. 4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 5 TLSB 1006HV (3) 90 cm/ns

H.F. 728 DIVISION I 1 FY 2023-2024 APPROPRIATIONS 2 Section 1. JUDICIAL BRANCH. 3 1. There is appropriated from the general fund of the state 4 to the judicial branch for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 5 2023, and ending June 30, 2024, the following amounts, or so 6 much thereof as is necessary, to be used for the purposes 7 designated: 8 a. For salaries of supreme court justices, appellate court 9 judges, district court judges, district associate judges, 10 associate juvenile judges, associate probate judges, judicial 11 magistrates and staff, state court administrator, clerk of 12 the supreme court, district court administrators, clerks of 13 the district court, juvenile court officers, board of law 14 examiners, board of examiners of shorthand reporters, and 15 commission on judicial qualifications; receipt and disbursement 16 of child support payments; reimbursement of the auditor 17 of state for expenses incurred in completing audits of the 18 offices of the clerks of the district court during the fiscal 19 year beginning July 1, 2023; and maintenance, equipment, and 20 miscellaneous purposes: 21 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $193,350,550 22 Of the moneys appropriated in this lettered paragraph, no 23 more than $250,000 is allocated for reimbursement to the 24 indigent defense fund created in section 815.11 for travel 25 time claims as required under section 815.7A, subsection 2, if 26 enacted by 2023 Iowa Acts, Senate File 562 or House Study Bill 27 251, or successor legislation. 28 b. For deposit in the revolving fund created pursuant to 29 section 602.1302, subsection 3, for jury and witness fees, 30 mileage, costs related to summoning jurors, costs and fees for 31 interpreters and translators, and reimbursement of attorney 32 fees paid by the state public defender: 33 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 3,600,000 34 c. For payment of expenses for court-ordered services 35 -1- LSB 1006HV (3) 90 cm/ns 1/ 12

H.F. 728 provided to juveniles who are under the supervision of juvenile 1 court services, which expenses are a charge upon the state 2 pursuant to section 232.141, subsection 4: 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 3,290,000 4 (1) Of the moneys appropriated in this lettered paragraph, 5 no more than $1,556,000 is allocated to provide school-based 6 supervision of children under chapter 232, of which no more 7 than $15,000 may be used for purposes of training. A portion 8 of the cost of each school-based liaison officer shall be paid 9 by the school district or other funding source as approved by 10 the chief juvenile court officer. 11 (2) Of the moneys appropriated in this lettered paragraph, 12 no more than $748,000 is allocated for the payment of expenses 13 for court-ordered services provided to children who are under 14 the supervision of the department of health and human services, 15 which expenses are a charge upon the state pursuant to section 16 232.141, subsection 4. 17 (3) Notwithstanding section 232.141 or any other provision 18 of law to the contrary, the moneys appropriated in this 19 lettered paragraph shall be distributed to the judicial 20 districts as determined by the state court administrator. The 21 state court administrator shall make the determination of the 22 distribution amounts on or before June 15, 2023. 23 (4) Notwithstanding chapter 232 or any other provision of 24 law to the contrary, a district or juvenile court shall not 25 order any service which is a charge upon the state pursuant 26 to section 232.141 if there are insufficient court-ordered 27 services moneys available in the district court distribution 28 amounts to pay for the service. The chief juvenile court 29 officer shall encourage use of the moneys appropriated in this 30 lettered paragraph such that there are sufficient moneys to pay 31 for all court-ordered services during the entire fiscal year. 32 The chief juvenile court officer shall attempt to anticipate 33 potential surpluses and shortfalls in the distribution amounts 34 and shall cooperatively request the state court administrator 35 -2- LSB 1006HV (3) 90 cm/ns 2/ 12

H.F. 728 to transfer moneys between the judicial districts’ distribution 1 amounts as prudent. 2 (5) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, 3 a district or juvenile court shall not order a county to pay 4 for any service provided to a juvenile pursuant to an order 5 entered under chapter 232 which is a charge upon the state 6 under section 232.141, subsection 4. 7 (6) Of the moneys appropriated in this lettered paragraph, 8 no more than $83,000 may be used by the judicial branch 9 for administration of the requirements under this lettered 10 paragraph. 11 (7) Of the moneys appropriated in this lettered paragraph, 12 $23,000 is allocated to the judicial branch to support the 13 interstate commission for juveniles in accordance with the 14 interstate compact for juveniles as provided in section 15 232.173. 16 d. For juvenile justice delinquency prevention pursuant to 17 section 232.192, if enacted by 2023 Iowa Acts, Senate File 285 18 or House File 699, or if not enacted, for juvenile delinquent 19 graduated sanctions services pursuant to section 232.192, as 20 enacted by 2022 Iowa Acts, chapter 1098, section 70: 21 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 12,253,000 22 Any state moneys saved as a result of efforts by juvenile 23 court services to earn a federal fund match pursuant to Tit. 24 IV-E of the federal Family First Prevention Services Act 25 of 2018, Pub. L. No. 115-123, for juvenile court services 26 administration is appropriated to the judicial branch for 27 purposes of this lettered paragraph. 28 2. The judicial branch, except for purposes of internal 29 processing, shall use the current state budget system, the 30 state payroll system, and the Iowa finance and accounting 31 system in administration of programs and payments for services, 32 and shall not duplicate the state payroll, accounting, and 33 budgeting systems. 34 3. The judicial branch shall submit monthly financial 35 -3- LSB 1006HV (3) 90 cm/ns 3/ 12

H.F. 728 statements to the legislative services agency and the 1 department of management containing all appropriated accounts 2 in the same manner as provided in the monthly financial status 3 reports and personal services usage reports of the department 4 of administrative services. The monthly financial statements 5 shall include a comparison of the dollars and percentage 6 spent of budgeted versus actual revenues and expenditures on 7 a cumulative basis for full-time equivalent positions and 8 dollars. 9 4. The judicial branch shall focus efforts upon the 10 collection of delinquent fines, penalties, court costs, fees, 11 surcharges, or similar amounts. 12 5. It is the intent of the general assembly that the offices 13 of the clerks of the district court operate in all 99 counties 14 and be accessible to the public as much as is reasonably 15 possible in order to address the relative needs of the citizens 16 of each county. An office of the clerk of the district court 17 shall be open regular courthouse hours. 18 6. In addition to the requirements for transfers under 19 section 8.39, the judicial branch shall not change the 20 appropriations from the amounts appropriated to the judicial 21 branch in this division of this Act, unless notice of the 22 revisions is given to the legislative services agency prior 23 to the effective date. The notice shall include information 24 on the judicial branch’s rationale for making the changes and 25 details concerning the workload and performance measures upon 26 which the changes are based. 27 7. The judicial branch shall submit a semiannual update 28 to the legislative services agency specifying the amounts of 29 fines, surcharges, and court costs collected using the Iowa 30 court information system since the last report. The judicial 31 branch shall continue to facilitate the sharing of vital 32 sentencing and other information with other state departments 33 and governmental agencies involved in the criminal justice 34 system through the Iowa court information system. 35 -4- LSB 1006HV (3) 90 cm/ns 4/ 12

H.F. 728 8. The judicial branch shall provide a report to the general 1 assembly by January 1, 2024, concerning the amounts received 2 and expended from the court technology and modernization fund 3 created in section 602.8108, subsection 7, during the fiscal 4 year beginning July 1, 2022, and ending June 30, 2023, and the 5 plans for expenditures from each fund during the fiscal year 6 beginning July 1, 2023, and ending June 30, 2024. 7 Sec. 2. CIVIL TRIALS —— LOCATION. Notwithstanding any 8 provision to the contrary, for the fiscal year beginning July 9 1, 2023, and ending June 30, 2024, if all parties in a case 10 agree, a civil trial including a jury trial may take place in a 11 county contiguous to the county with proper jurisdiction, even 12 if the contiguous county is located in an adjacent judicial 13 district or judicial election district. If the trial is moved 14 pursuant to this section, court personnel shall treat the case 15 as if a change of venue occurred. 16 Sec. 3. TRAVEL REIMBURSEMENT. Notwithstanding section 17 602.1509, for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2023, and 18 ending June 30, 2024, a judicial officer may waive travel 19 reimbursement for any travel outside the judicial officer’s 20 county of residence to conduct official judicial business. 21 Sec. 4. JUDICIAL OFFICER —— UNPAID LEAVE. Notwithstanding 22 the annual salary rates for judicial officers established by 23 2022 Iowa Acts, chapter 1145, section 6, for the fiscal year 24 beginning July 1, 2023, and ending June 30, 2024, the supreme 25 court may by order place all judicial officers on unpaid leave 26 status on any day employees of the judicial branch are placed 27 on temporary layoff status. The biweekly pay of the judicial 28 officers shall be reduced accordingly for the pay period in 29 which the unpaid leave date occurred in the same manner as 30 for noncontract employees of the judicial branch. Through 31 the course of the fiscal year, the judicial branch may use an 32 amount equal to the aggregate amount of salary reductions due 33 to the judicial officer unpaid leave days for any purpose other 34 than for judicial salaries. 35 -5- LSB 1006HV (3) 90 cm/ns 5/ 12

H.F. 728 Sec. 5. IOWA COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK. It is the intent 1 of the general assembly that the judicial branch utilize 2 the Iowa communications network or other secure electronic 3 communications in lieu of traveling for the fiscal year 4 beginning July 1, 2023, and ending June 30, 2024. 5 DIVISION II 6 APPORTIONMENT OF DISTRICT ASSOCIATE JUDGES 7 Sec. 6. Section 602.6301, Code 2023, is amended to read as 8 follows: 9 602.6301 Number and apportionment of district associate 10 judges. 11 1. There shall be one district associate judge in counties 12 having a population of more than thirty-five thousand and less 13 than eighty thousand; two in counties having a population of 14 eighty thousand or more and less than one hundred twenty-five 15 thousand; three in counties having a population of one 16 hundred twenty-five thousand or more and less than one hundred 17 seventy thousand; four in counties having a population of one 18 hundred seventy thousand or more and less than two hundred 19 fifteen thousand; five in counties having a population of two 20 hundred fifteen thousand or more and less than two hundred 21 sixty thousand; six in counties having a population of two 22 hundred sixty thousand or more and less than three hundred 23 five thousand; seven in counties having a population of three 24 hundred five thousand or more and less than three hundred 25 fifty thousand; eight in counties having a population of three 26 hundred fifty thousand or more and less than three hundred 27 ninety-five thousand; nine in counties having a population of 28 three hundred ninety-five thousand or more and less than four 29 hundred forty thousand; ten in counties having a population of 30 four hundred forty thousand or more and less than four hundred 31 eighty-five thousand; and one additional judge for every 32 population increment of thirty-five thousand which is over 33 four hundred eighty-five thousand in such counties. However, 34 a county shall not lose a district associate judgeship solely 35 -6- LSB 1006HV (3) 90 cm/ns 6/ 12

H.F. 728 because of a reduction in the county’s population. If the 1 formula provided in this section results in the allocation 2 of an additional district associate judgeship to a county, 3 implementation of the allocation shall be subject to prior 4 approval of the supreme court and availability of funds to the 5 judicial branch. The supreme court shall prescribe, subject 6 to the restrictions of this section, a formula to determine 7 the number of district associate judges who will serve in each 8 judicial election district. The formula shall be based upon 9 a model that measures and applies an estimated case-related 10 workload formula of judicial officers, and shall account for 11 administrative duties, travel time, and other judicial duties 12 not related to a specific case. A district associate judge 13 appointed pursuant to section 602.6302 or 602.6307 shall not 14 be counted for purposes of this section and the reduction of 15 a district associate judge pursuant to section 602.6303 also 16 shall not be counted for purposes of this section . 17 2. For purposes of this section, “vacancy” means the death, 18 resignation, retirement, or removal of a district associate 19 judge, or the failure of a district associate judge to be 20 retained in office at the judicial election, or an increase in 21 judgeships under the formula prescribed in subsection 1. 22 3. In those judicial election districts having more 23 district associate judges than the number of judgeships 24 specified by the formula prescribed in subsection 1, vacancies 25 shall not be filled. 26 4. In those judicial election districts having fewer or 27 the same number of district associate judges as the number of 28 judgeships specified by the formula prescribed in subsection 1, 29 vacancies shall be filled as the vacancies occur. 30 5. In those judicial districts that contain more than one 31 judicial election district, a vacancy in a judicial election 32 district shall not be filled if the total number of district 33 associate judges in all judicial election districts within 34 the judicial district equals or exceeds the aggregate number 35 -7- LSB 1006HV (3) 90 cm/ns 7/ 12

H.F. 728 of judgeships to which all of the judicial election districts 1 of the judicial district are authorized by the formula in 2 subsection 1. 3 6. An incumbent district associate judge shall not be 4 removed from office because of a reduction in the number of 5 authorized judgeships specified by the formula prescribed in 6 subsection 1. 7 DIVISION III 8 VIDEO RECORDINGS 9 Sec. 7. Section 602.3205, Code 2023, is amended to read as 10 follows: 11 602.3205 Audio and video recordings. 12 1. Except as provided in subsection 2 or 3 , a certified 13 shorthand reporter’s audio and video recordings used solely 14 for the purpose of providing a verbatim written transcript of 15 a court proceeding or a proceeding conducted in anticipation 16 of use in a court proceeding shall be considered the personal 17 property and private work product of the certified shorthand 18 reporter. 19 2. An audio or video recording of a certified shorthand 20 reporter appointed under section 602.6603 shall be provided to 21 the presiding judge or chief judge for an in camera review upon 22 court order for good cause shown. 23 3. a. An audio or video recording of a certified shorthand 24 reporter shall be provided to the board upon request by the 25 board if a disciplinary proceeding is pending regarding the 26 certified shorthand reporter who is a respondent under the 27 provisions of section 602.3203 or the rules of the board of 28 examiners of shorthand reporters, Iowa court rules, ch. 46 . 29 b. The audio and video recordings provided to the board 30 pursuant to this subsection shall be kept confidential by the 31 board in a manner as provided in section 272C.6, subsection 4 . 32 DIVISION IV 33 NONCONTRACT ATTORNEY APPOINTMENT 34 Sec. 8. NONCONTRACT ATTORNEY APPOINTMENT. For the fiscal 35 -8- LSB 1006HV (3) 90 cm/ns 8/ 12

H.F. 728 year beginning July 1, 2023, and ending June 30, 2024, a court 1 shall not appoint a noncontract attorney under section 815.10, 2 subsection 3, without the noncontract attorney’s consent. 3 DIVISION V 4 CONTRACTING AUTHORITY 5 Sec. 9. NEW SECTION . 602.1209A State court administrator 6 may contractually limit vendor liability. 7 1. The state court administrator may authorize the 8 procurement of goods and services in which a contractual 9 limitation of vendor liability is provided for and set forth in 10 the documents initiating the procurement. 11 2. a. The state court administrator shall consider all of 12 the following criteria when determining whether to permit a 13 contractual limitation of vendor liability with regard to any 14 procurement of goods or services: 15 (1) Whether authorizing a contractual limitation of vendor 16 liability is necessary to prevent harm to the state from 17 a failure to obtain the goods or services sought, or from 18 obtaining the goods or services at a higher price if the state 19 refuses to allow a contractual limitation of vendor liability. 20 (2) Whether the contractual limitation of vendor liability 21 is commercially reasonable when taking into account any risk to 22 the state created by the goods or services to be procured and 23 the purpose for which they will be used. 24 b. The state court administrator may consider additional 25 criteria. 26 3. Notwithstanding subsection 1, a contractual limitation 27 of vendor liability shall not include any limitation on the 28 liability of any vendor for intentional torts, criminal acts, 29 or fraudulent conduct. 30 EXPLANATION 31 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 32 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 33 This bill relates to the judicial branch. 34 FY 2023-2024 APPROPRIATIONS. The bill appropriates moneys 35 -9- LSB 1006HV (3) 90 cm/ns 9/ 12

H.F. 728 from the general fund of the state for FY 2023-2024 to the 1 judicial branch for salaries, receipt and disbursement of 2 child support payments, reimbursement of the auditor of state, 3 maintenance, equipment, miscellaneous purposes, deposit in the 4 revolving fund created pursuant to Code section 602.1302(3) for 5 certain purposes, payment of court-ordered juvenile services, 6 and juvenile delinquent programs and services. 7 The bill provides that a civil trial including a jury trial 8 may take place in a county contiguous to the county with proper 9 jurisdiction, even if the contiguous county is located in an 10 adjacent judicial district or judicial election district, if 11 all the parties in a case agree. If a trial is moved to another 12 county that is located in another judicial district or judicial 13 election district, the judicial officers serving the judicial 14 district or judicial election district receiving the case shall 15 preside over the case. 16 The bill permits a judicial officer to waive travel 17 reimbursement for any travel outside the judicial officer’s 18 county of residence to conduct official business. 19 The bill allows a judicial officer to be placed on unpaid 20 leave on any day a court employee is required to furlough. 21 The bill provides that if a judicial officer is placed on 22 unpaid leave, the salary of the judicial officer shall be 23 reduced accordingly for the pay period in which the unpaid 24 leave occurred. The bill provides that the judicial branch 25 may use an amount equal to the aggregate amount of the salary 26 reductions due to judicial officer unpaid leave for any purpose 27 other than judicial salaries. 28 The bill states legislative intent that the judicial 29 branch utilize the Iowa communications network or other secure 30 electronic communications in lieu of traveling. 31 APPORTIONMENT OF DISTRICT ASSOCIATE JUDGES. The bill 32 provides for a new formula to be prescribed by the Iowa supreme 33 court for apportioning district associate judges based upon 34 a weighted workload. Under current law, district associate 35 -10- LSB 1006HV (3) 90 cm/ns 10/ 12

H.F. 728 judges are apportioned based upon county population. 1 The bill provides that in judicial election districts 2 that currently have more district associate judges than the 3 new formula prescribes, vacancies shall not be filled, while 4 districts having fewer or the same shall fill vacancies as 5 they occur. In judicial districts that contain more than one 6 judicial election district, a vacancy in a judicial election 7 district shall not be filled if the total number of district 8 associate judges in all judicial election districts within 9 the judicial district equals or exceeds the aggregate number 10 of judgeships to which all of the judicial election districts 11 of the judicial district are authorized. Incumbents shall 12 not be removed because of a reduction in number of authorized 13 judgeships. 14 VIDEO RECORDINGS. The bill adds video recordings to 15 Code section 602.3205 (certified shorthand reporter audio 16 recordings). The bill provides that a certified shorthand 17 reporter’s audio and video recordings used solely for the 18 purpose of providing a verbatim written transcript of a court 19 proceeding or a proceeding conducted in anticipation of use in 20 a court proceeding shall be considered the personal property 21 and private work product of the certified shorthand reporter, 22 except that an audio or video recording of a certified 23 shorthand reporter shall be provided to the presiding judge 24 or chief judge for an in camera review upon court order 25 for good cause shown and an audio or video recording of a 26 certified shorthand reporter shall be provided to the board of 27 examiners of shorthand reporters upon request by the board if 28 a disciplinary proceeding is pending regarding the certified 29 shorthand reporter. 30 NONCONTRACT ATTORNEY APPOINTMENT. For FY 2023-2024, the 31 bill prohibits a court from appointing a noncontract attorney 32 under Code section 815.10(3) without the attorney’s consent. 33 CONTRACTING AUTHORITY. The bill allows the state court 34 administrator to enter into contracts with vendors that include 35 -11- LSB 1006HV (3) 90 cm/ns 11/ 12