Subcommittee hears judiciary budget presentation, including case management system costs

Robin Risco of the House Fiscal Agency presented the judiciary budget to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Corrections and Judiciary on Feb. 19, 2025, detailing multi-year appropriations, recent one-time investments and the FY27 executive recommendation.

Risco said the judiciary budget is less than 1% of the state's $74.6 billion adjusted gross budget and makes up about 2% of the state's $14.1 billion general fund. She highlighted a one-time $150,000,000 appropriation in FY23 to support a statewide judicial case management system, and noted that expansions of problem-solving courts and community alternatives have contributed to growth.

The presentation summarized FY24–26 enacted appropriations and FTE changes, including a reported increase of 45.5 FTE positions between FY24 and FY26, and described line-item and one-time funding changes (for example, funds for attorney and support positions, judicial security, behavioral health administrative positions, and development of the statewide case management system).

For FY27, Risco said the executive recommendation proposes roughly $391,300,000 gross and $283,200,000 in general fund, a modest increase over the current year, and the addition of FTEs to support ongoing maintenance and caseload demands tied to the statewide case management system. She also pointed out boilerplate changes and sections recommended for deletion that would alter reporting and spending constraints.

Committee members asked whether any additional financial information was missing that staff should seek; Risco said she had no outstanding requests at this time and would follow up if new needs appeared.

The subcommittee adjourned without taking votes on judiciary appropriations at the Feb. 19 meeting.