H.F. 2769 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- HF 2769 (2) 91 lh/ns/md 1/ 6

H.F. 2769 (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- HF 2769 (2) 91 lh/ns/md 2/ 6

H.F. 2769 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 e. For salaries of business court judges and the 21 establishment and operation of a specialty business court 22 pursuant to 2026 Iowa Acts, Senate File 639, if enacted: 23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 500,000 24 2. The judicial branch, except for purposes of internal 25 processing, shall use the current state budget system, the 26 state payroll system, and the Iowa finance and accounting 27 system in administration of programs and payments for services, 28 and shall not duplicate the state payroll, accounting, and 29 budgeting systems. 30 3. The judicial branch shall submit monthly financial 31 statements to the legislative services agency and the 32 department of management containing all appropriated accounts 33 in the same manner as provided in the monthly financial status 34 reports and personal services usage reports of the department 35 -3- HF 2769 (2) 91 lh/ns/md 3/ 6

H.F. 2769 of administrative services. The monthly financial statements 1 must include a comparison of the dollars and percentage 2 spent of budgeted versus actual revenues and expenditures on 3 a cumulative basis for full-time equivalent positions and 4 dollars. 5 4. The judicial branch shall focus efforts upon the 6 collection of delinquent fines, penalties, court costs, fees, 7 surcharges, or similar amounts. 8 5. It is the intent of the general assembly that the offices 9 of the clerks of the district court operate in all 99 counties 10 and be accessible to the public as much as is reasonably 11 possible in order to address the relative needs of the citizens 12 of each county. An office of the clerk of the district court 13 shall be open regular courthouse hours. 14 6. In addition to the requirements for transfers under 15 section 8.39 , the judicial branch shall not change the 16 appropriations from the amounts appropriated to the judicial 17 branch in this Act unless notice of the revisions is given to 18 the legislative services agency prior to the effective date. 19 The notice must include information on the judicial branch’s 20 rationale for making the changes and details concerning the 21 workload and performance measures upon which the changes are 22 based. 23 7. The judicial branch shall submit a semiannual update to 24 the legislative services agency and department of management 25 specifying the amounts of fines, surcharges, and court costs 26 collected using the Iowa court information system since the 27 last report. The judicial branch shall continue to facilitate 28 the sharing of vital sentencing and other information with 29 other state departments and governmental agencies involved in 30 the criminal justice system through the Iowa court information 31 system. 32 8. The judicial branch shall provide a report to the general 33 assembly and department of management by January 1, 2027, 34 concerning the amounts received and expended from the court 35 -4- HF 2769 (2) 91 lh/ns/md 4/ 6

H.F. 2769 technology and modernization fund created in section 602.8108, 1 subsection 7 , during the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, 2 and ending June 30, 2026, and the plans for expenditures from 3 the fund during the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026, and 4 ending June 30, 2027. 5 Sec. 2. CIVIL TRIALS —— LOCATION. Notwithstanding any 6 provision to the contrary, for the fiscal year beginning July 7 1, 2026, and ending June 30, 2027, if all parties in a case 8 agree, a civil trial including a jury trial may take place in a 9 county contiguous to the county with proper jurisdiction, even 10 if the contiguous county is located in an adjacent judicial 11 district or judicial election district. If the trial is moved 12 pursuant to this section, court personnel shall treat the case 13 as if a change of venue occurred. 14 Sec. 3. TRAVEL REIMBURSEMENT. Notwithstanding section 15 602.1509 , for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026, and 16 ending June 30, 2027, a judicial officer may waive travel 17 reimbursement for any travel outside the judicial officer’s 18 county of residence to conduct official judicial business. 19 Sec. 4. JUDICIAL OFFICER —— UNPAID LEAVE. Notwithstanding 20 the annual salary rates for judicial officers established by 21 2025 Iowa Acts, chapter 158, section 6, for the fiscal year 22 beginning July 1, 2026, and ending June 30, 2027, the supreme 23 court may by order place all judicial officers on unpaid leave 24 status on any day employees of the judicial branch are placed 25 on temporary layoff status. The biweekly pay of the judicial 26 officers shall be reduced accordingly for the pay period in 27 which the unpaid leave date occurred in the same manner as 28 for noncontract employees of the judicial branch. Through 29 the course of the fiscal year, the judicial branch may use an 30 amount equal to the aggregate amount of salary reductions due 31 to the judicial officer unpaid leave days for any purpose other 32 than for judicial salaries. 33 Sec. 5. IOWA COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK. It is the intent 34 of the general assembly that the judicial branch utilize 35 -5- HF 2769 (2) 91 lh/ns/md 5/ 6

H.F. 2769 the Iowa communications network or other secure electronic 1 communications in lieu of traveling for the fiscal year 2 beginning July 1, 2026, and ending June 30, 2027. 3 Sec. 6. Section 602.1202, Code 2026, is amended to read as 4 follows: 5 602.1202 Judicial council. 6 1. A judicial council is established, consisting of the 7 chief judges of the judicial districts, the chief judge of 8 the court of appeals, and the chief justice who shall be the 9 chairperson. The council shall convene not less than twice 10 each year at times and places as ordered by the chief justice. 11 The council shall advise the supreme court with respect to the 12 supervision and administration of the judicial branch. 13 2. A meeting of the judicial council in which the judicial 14 retirement system is discussed shall not be held as a closed 15 session under section 21.5. 16 Sec. 7. Section 602.9102, Code 2026, is amended to read as 17 follows: 18 602.9102 Administered by court administrator. 19 1. The court administrator shall be vested with authority is 20 authorized to administer the system and related reports and may 21 promulgate rules therefor not inconsistent with the provisions 22 of this article . 23 2. The state court administrator shall advise the 24 judicial council on all determinations made by the state court 25 administrator concerning the judicial retirement system. 26 -6- HF 2769 (2) 91 lh/ns/md 6/ 6