Judiciary budget hearing spotlights courthouse security grants, home-security aid and paid-leave costs

The committee heard a presentation of House File 3874, the judicial branch budget bill, which the chair said will be treated as the branch’s budget request for the year. Judiciary staff described a security package that includes one-time matching grants to counties (the branch requested $1 million) for courthouse security upgrades, a proposal to provide up to $1,000 per eligible judicial branch employee for home-security hardware and ongoing monitoring, an estimate covering roughly 580 people and a request for two additional FTEs for safety-related work.

Mr. Short, speaking for the judiciary, said the branch has run similar grant programs in past cycles and would advertise the grant application in May, evaluate proposals with a panel including the Sheriffs Association and other stakeholders, and award grants in late summer to early winter. He said the grants require a 50% match in dollars or staff time and have historically funded items such as panic alarms, bullet-resistant glass, door locks, cameras and access-control readers.

Members probed how the branch would allocate home-security funding if not all employees needed systems, whether counties of different sizes could fairly compete for grant money, and how the employer share for the state's paid family and medical leave law would be handled. The judiciary estimated the employer-share request at roughly $644,000 in fiscal year 2026 and said without funding it would likely need to leave about 20 positions open to cover the additional payroll tax.

The chair laid HF 3874 over for further markup next week; members were given a deadline for amendments and warned the committee will consider proposed changes at the following meeting.