S.F. _____ H.F. _____ Section 1. JUDICIAL BRANCH. 1 1. There is appropriated from the general fund of the state 2 to the judicial branch for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 3 2026, and ending June 30, 2027, the following amounts, or so 4 much thereof as is necessary, to be used for the purposes 5 designated: 6 a. For salaries of supreme court justices, appellate court 7 judges, district court judges, district associate judges, 8 associate juvenile judges, associate probate judges, judicial 9 magistrates and staff, state court administrator, clerk of 10 the supreme court, district court administrators, clerks of 11 the district court, juvenile court officers, board of law 12 examiners, board of examiners of shorthand reporters, and 13 commission on judicial qualifications; receipt and disbursement 14 of child support payments; reimbursement of the auditor 15 of state for expenses incurred in completing audits of the 16 offices of the clerks of the district court during the fiscal 17 year beginning July 1, 2026; and maintenance, equipment, and 18 miscellaneous purposes: 19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $202,691,378 20 b. For deposit in the revolving fund created pursuant to 21 section 602.1302, subsection 3 , for jury and witness fees, 22 mileage, costs related to summoning jurors, costs and fees for 23 interpreters and translators, and reimbursement of attorney 24 fees paid by the state public defender: 25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 3,600,000 26 c. For payment of expenses for court-ordered services 27 provided to juveniles who are under the supervision of juvenile 28 court services, which expenses are a charge upon the state 29 pursuant to section 232.141, subsection 4 : 30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 3,290,000 31 (1) Of the moneys appropriated in this lettered paragraph, 32 no more than $1,556,000 is allocated to provide school-based 33 supervision of children under chapter 232 , of which no more 34 than $25,000 may be used for purposes of training. 35 -1- LSB 5015XG (5) 91 lh/ns 1/ 7

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ (2) Notwithstanding section 232.141 or any other provision 1 of law to the contrary, the moneys appropriated in this 2 lettered paragraph shall be distributed to the judicial 3 districts as determined by the state court administrator. The 4 state court administrator shall make the determination of the 5 distribution amounts within thirty days of the date on which 6 the annual census data is released. 7 (3) Notwithstanding chapter 232 or any other provision of 8 law to the contrary, a district or juvenile court shall not 9 order any service which is a charge upon the state pursuant 10 to section 232.141 if there are insufficient court-ordered 11 services moneys available in the district court distribution 12 amounts to pay for the service. The chief juvenile court 13 officer shall encourage use of the moneys appropriated in this 14 lettered paragraph such that there are sufficient moneys to pay 15 for all court-ordered services during the entire fiscal year. 16 The chief juvenile court officer shall attempt to anticipate 17 potential surpluses and shortfalls in the distribution amounts 18 and shall cooperatively request the state court administrator 19 to transfer moneys between the judicial districts’ distribution 20 amounts as prudent. 21 (4) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, 22 a district or juvenile court shall not order a county to pay 23 for any service provided to a juvenile pursuant to an order 24 entered under chapter 232 which is a charge upon the state 25 under section 232.141, subsection 4 . 26 (5) Of the moneys appropriated in this lettered paragraph, 27 no more than $83,000 may be used by the judicial branch 28 for administration of the requirements under this lettered 29 paragraph. 30 (6) Of the moneys appropriated in this lettered paragraph, 31 an amount not to exceed the actual cost of the annual 32 membership fee is allocated to the judicial branch to support 33 the interstate commission for juveniles in accordance with 34 the interstate compact for juveniles as provided in section 35 -2- LSB 5015XG (5) 91 lh/ns 2/ 7

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ 232.173 . 1 (7) Notwithstanding section 8.33 , moneys appropriated in 2 this lettered paragraph that remain unencumbered or unobligated 3 at the close of the fiscal year shall not revert but shall 4 remain available for expenditure for the purposes designated 5 until the close of the fiscal year that begins July 1, 2029. 6 d. For juvenile delinquent graduated sanctions services 7 pursuant to section 232.192 : 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 12,253,000 9 (1) Any state moneys saved as a result of efforts by 10 juvenile court services to earn a federal fund match pursuant 11 to Tit. IV-E of the federal Family First Prevention Services 12 Act of 2018, Pub. L. No. 115-123, for juvenile court services 13 administration is appropriated to the judicial branch for 14 purposes of this lettered paragraph. 15 (2) Notwithstanding section 8.33 , moneys appropriated in 16 this lettered paragraph that remain unencumbered or unobligated 17 at the close of the fiscal year shall not revert but shall 18 remain available for expenditure for the purposes designated 19 until the close of the fiscal year that begins July 1, 2029. 20 2. The judicial branch, except for purposes of internal 21 processing, shall use the current state budget system, the 22 state payroll system, and the Iowa finance and accounting 23 system in administration of programs and payments for services, 24 and shall not duplicate the state payroll, accounting, and 25 budgeting systems. 26 3. The judicial branch shall submit monthly financial 27 statements to the legislative services agency and the 28 department of management containing all appropriated accounts 29 in the same manner as provided in the monthly financial status 30 reports and personal services usage reports of the department 31 of administrative services. The monthly financial statements 32 must include a comparison of the dollars and percentage 33 spent of budgeted versus actual revenues and expenditures on 34 a cumulative basis for full-time equivalent positions and 35 -3- LSB 5015XG (5) 91 lh/ns 3/ 7

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ dollars. 1 4. The judicial branch shall focus efforts upon the 2 collection of delinquent fines, penalties, court costs, fees, 3 surcharges, or similar amounts. 4 5. It is the intent of the general assembly that the offices 5 of the clerks of the district court operate in all 99 counties 6 and be accessible to the public as much as is reasonably 7 possible in order to address the relative needs of the citizens 8 of each county. An office of the clerk of the district court 9 shall be open regular courthouse hours. 10 6. In addition to the requirements for transfers under 11 section 8.39 , the judicial branch shall not change the 12 appropriations from the amounts appropriated to the judicial 13 branch in this Act unless notice of the revisions is given to 14 the legislative services agency prior to the effective date. 15 The notice must include information on the judicial branch’s 16 rationale for making the changes and details concerning the 17 workload and performance measures upon which the changes are 18 based. 19 7. The judicial branch shall submit a semiannual update to 20 the legislative services agency and department of management 21 specifying the amounts of fines, surcharges, and court costs 22 collected using the Iowa court information system since the 23 last report. The judicial branch shall continue to facilitate 24 the sharing of vital sentencing and other information with 25 other state departments and governmental agencies involved in 26 the criminal justice system through the Iowa court information 27 system. 28 8. The judicial branch shall provide a report to the general 29 assembly and department of management by January 1, 2027, 30 concerning the amounts received and expended from the court 31 technology and modernization fund created in section 602.8108, 32 subsection 7 , during the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, 33 and ending June 30, 2026, and the plans for expenditures from 34 the fund during the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026, and 35 -4- LSB 5015XG (5) 91 lh/ns 4/ 7

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ ending June 30, 2027. 1 Sec. 2. CIVIL TRIALS —— LOCATION. Notwithstanding any 2 provision to the contrary, for the fiscal year beginning July 3 1, 2026, and ending June 30, 2027, if all parties in a case 4 agree, a civil trial including a jury trial may take place in a 5 county contiguous to the county with proper jurisdiction, even 6 if the contiguous county is located in an adjacent judicial 7 district or judicial election district. If the trial is moved 8 pursuant to this section, court personnel shall treat the case 9 as if a change of venue occurred. 10 Sec. 3. TRAVEL REIMBURSEMENT. Notwithstanding section 11 602.1509 , for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026, and 12 ending June 30, 2027, a judicial officer may waive travel 13 reimbursement for any travel outside the judicial officer’s 14 county of residence to conduct official judicial business. 15 Sec. 4. JUDICIAL OFFICER —— UNPAID LEAVE. Notwithstanding 16 the annual salary rates for judicial officers established by 17 2025 Iowa Acts, chapter 158, section 6, for the fiscal year 18 beginning July 1, 2026, and ending June 30, 2027, the supreme 19 court may by order place all judicial officers on unpaid leave 20 status on any day employees of the judicial branch are placed 21 on temporary layoff status. The biweekly pay of the judicial 22 officers shall be reduced accordingly for the pay period in 23 which the unpaid leave date occurred in the same manner as 24 for noncontract employees of the judicial branch. Through 25 the course of the fiscal year, the judicial branch may use an 26 amount equal to the aggregate amount of salary reductions due 27 to the judicial officer unpaid leave days for any purpose other 28 than for judicial salaries. 29 Sec. 5. IOWA COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK. It is the intent 30 of the general assembly that the judicial branch utilize 31 the Iowa communications network or other secure electronic 32 communications in lieu of traveling for the fiscal year 33 beginning July 1, 2026, and ending June 30, 2027. 34 Sec. 6. Section 602.1202, Code 2026, is amended to read as 35 -5- LSB 5015XG (5) 91 lh/ns 5/ 7

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ follows: 1 602.1202 Judicial council. 2 1. A judicial council is established, consisting of the 3 chief judges of the judicial districts, the chief judge of 4 the court of appeals, and the chief justice who shall be the 5 chairperson. The council shall convene not less than twice 6 each year at times and places as ordered by the chief justice. 7 The council shall advise the supreme court with respect to the 8 supervision and administration of the judicial branch. 9 2. A meeting of the judicial council in which the judicial 10 retirement system is discussed shall not be held as a closed 11 session under section 21.5. 12 Sec. 7. Section 602.9102, Code 2026, is amended to read as 13 follows: 14 602.9102 Administered by court administrator. 15 1. The court administrator shall be vested with authority is 16 authorized to administer the system and related reports and may 17 promulgate rules therefor not inconsistent with the provisions 18 of this article . 19 2. The state court administrator shall advise the 20 judicial council on all determinations made by the state court 21 administrator concerning the judicial retirement system. 22 EXPLANATION 23 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 24 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 25 This bill relates to and makes appropriations to the 26 judicial branch. 27 The bill appropriates moneys from the general fund 28 of the state for FY 2026-2027 to the judicial branch for 29 salaries, receipt and disbursement of child support payments, 30 reimbursement of the auditor of state, maintenance, equipment, 31 miscellaneous purposes, deposit in the revolving fund created 32 pursuant to Code section 602.1302(3) for certain purposes, 33 payment of court-ordered juvenile services, and juvenile 34 delinquent graduated sanctions services. 35 -6- LSB 5015XG (5) 91 lh/ns 6/ 7

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ The bill provides that a civil trial including a jury trial 1 may take place in a county contiguous to the county with proper 2 jurisdiction if all the parties in a case agree. If a trial 3 is moved to another county that is located in another judicial 4 district or judicial election district, the judicial officers 5 serving the judicial district or judicial election district 6 receiving the case shall preside over the case. 7 The bill permits a judicial officer to waive travel 8 reimbursement for any travel outside the judicial officer’s 9 county of residence to conduct official business. 10 The bill allows a judicial officer to be placed on unpaid 11 leave on any day a court employee is required to furlough. 12 The bill provides that if a judicial officer is placed on 13 unpaid leave, the salary of the judicial officer shall be 14 reduced accordingly for the pay period in which the unpaid 15 leave occurred. The bill provides that the judicial branch 16 may use an amount equal to the aggregate amount of the salary 17 reductions due to judicial officer unpaid leave for any purpose 18 other than judicial salaries. 19 The bill states legislative intent that the judicial 20 branch utilize the Iowa communications network or other secure 21 electronic communications in lieu of traveling. 22 Under current law, governmental bodies, including a 23 council created by state statute, are subject to Code 24 chapter 21 (official meetings open to public). Under certain 25 circumstances, a governmental body may hold a closed session 26 (Code section 21.5). The bill provides that a judicial council 27 meeting in which the judicial retirement system is discussed 28 shall not be held as a closed session. The bill requires the 29 state court administrator to advise the judicial council on all 30 determinations made by the state court administrator concerning 31 the judicial retirement system. 32 -7- LSB 5015XG (5) 91 lh/ns 7/ 7