House File 2695 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 2695 BY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS (SUCCESSOR TO LSB 5006HB) A BILL FOR An Act relating to and making appropriations to the judicial 1 branch, and including effective date provisions. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 5006HV (1) 90 cm/ns
H.F. 2695 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 2024, and ending June 30, 2025, 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, 2024; and maintenance, equipment, and 18 miscellaneous purposes: 19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $201,597,574 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 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 6,105,240 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 5006HV (1) 90 cm/ns 1/ 8
H.F. 2695 (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 5006HV (1) 90 cm/ns 2/ 8
H.F. 2695 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, 2027. 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, 2027. 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 shall 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 5006HV (1) 90 cm/ns 3/ 8
H.F. 2695 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 shall include information on the judicial branchs 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 20 to the legislative services agency specifying the amounts of 21 fines, surcharges, and court costs collected using the Iowa 22 court information system since the last report. The judicial 23 branch shall continue to facilitate the sharing of vital 24 sentencing and other information with other state departments 25 and governmental agencies involved in the criminal justice 26 system through the Iowa court information system. 27 8. The judicial branch shall provide a report to the general 28 assembly by January 1, 2025, concerning the amounts received 29 and expended from the court technology and modernization fund 30 created in section 602.8108, subsection 7, during the fiscal 31 year beginning July 1, 2023, and ending June 30, 2024, and the 32 plans for expenditures from each fund during the fiscal year 33 beginning July 1, 2024, and ending June 30, 2025. 34 Sec. 2. CIVIL TRIALS LOCATION. Notwithstanding any 35 -4- LSB 5006HV (1) 90 cm/ns 4/ 8
H.F. 2695 provision to the contrary, for the fiscal year beginning July 1 1, 2024, and ending June 30, 2025, if all parties in a case 2 agree, a civil trial including a jury trial may take place in a 3 county contiguous to the county with proper jurisdiction, even 4 if the contiguous county is located in an adjacent judicial 5 district or judicial election district. If the trial is moved 6 pursuant to this section, court personnel shall treat the case 7 as if a change of venue occurred. 8 Sec. 3. TRAVEL REIMBURSEMENT. Notwithstanding section 9 602.1509, for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024, and 10 ending June 30, 2025, a judicial officer may waive travel 11 reimbursement for any travel outside the judicial officers 12 county of residence to conduct official judicial business. 13 Sec. 4. JUDICIAL OFFICER UNPAID LEAVE. Notwithstanding 14 the annual salary rates for judicial officers established 15 by this Act for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024, and 16 ending June 30, 2025, the supreme court may by order place all 17 judicial officers on unpaid leave status on any day employees 18 of the judicial branch are placed on temporary layoff status. 19 The biweekly pay of the judicial officers shall be reduced 20 accordingly for the pay period in which the unpaid leave date 21 occurred in the same manner as for noncontract employees of the 22 judicial branch. Through the course of the fiscal year, the 23 judicial branch may use an amount equal to the aggregate amount 24 of salary reductions due to the judicial officer unpaid leave 25 days for any purpose other than for judicial salaries. 26 Sec. 5. IOWA COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK. It is the intent 27 of the general assembly that the judicial branch utilize 28 the Iowa communications network or other secure electronic 29 communications in lieu of traveling for the fiscal year 30 beginning July 1, 2024, and ending June 30, 2025. 31 Sec. 6. SALARIES STATE COURT JUSTICES, JUDGES, AND 32 MAGISTRATES. 33 1. The salary rates specified in subsection 2 are for the 34 fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024, effective for the pay 35 -5- LSB 5006HV (1) 90 cm/ns 5/ 8
H.F. 2695 period beginning June 21, 2024, and for subsequent fiscal 1 years until otherwise provided by the general assembly. The 2 salaries provided for in this section shall be paid from moneys 3 appropriated to the judicial branch pursuant to this Act or any 4 other Act of the general assembly. 5 2. The following annual salary rates shall be paid to the 6 persons holding the judicial positions indicated during the 7 fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024, effective with the pay 8 period beginning June 21, 2024, and for subsequent pay periods: 9 a. Chief justice of the supreme court: 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 208,265 11 b. Each justice of the supreme court: 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 198,940 13 c. Chief judge of the court of appeals: 14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 186,507 15 d. Each associate judge of the court of appeals: 16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 180,290 17 e. Each chief judge of a judicial district: 18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 174,072 19 f. Each district judge except the chief judge of a judicial 20 district: 21 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 167,855 22 g. Each district associate judge: 23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 149,206 24 h. Each associate juvenile judge: 25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 149,206 26 i. Each associate probate judge: 27 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 149,206 28 j. Each judicial magistrate: 29 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 46,004 30 k. Each senior judge: 31 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 9,947 32 3. Persons receiving salary rates established under this 33 section shall not receive any additional salary adjustments 34 provided by this Act or any other Act of the general assembly. 35 -6- LSB 5006HV (1) 90 cm/ns 6/ 8
H.F. 2695 Sec. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. The section of this Act enacting 1 salaries for state court justices, judges, and magistrates 2 takes effect June 21, 2024. 3 EXPLANATION 4 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 5 the explanations substance by the members of the general assembly. 6 This bill relates to and makes appropriations to the 7 judicial branch. 8 The bill appropriates moneys from the general fund 9 of the state for FY 2024-2025 to the judicial branch for 10 salaries, receipt and disbursement of child support payments, 11 reimbursement of the auditor of state, maintenance, equipment, 12 miscellaneous purposes, deposit in the revolving fund created 13 pursuant to Code section 602.1302(3) for certain purposes, 14 payment of court-ordered juvenile services, and juvenile 15 delinquent graduated sanctions services. 16 The bill provides that a civil trial including a jury trial 17 may take place in a county contiguous to the county with proper 18 jurisdiction, even if the contiguous county is located in an 19 adjacent judicial district or judicial election district, if 20 all the parties in a case agree. If a trial is moved to another 21 county that is located in another judicial district or judicial 22 election district, the judicial officers serving the judicial 23 district or judicial election district receiving the case shall 24 preside over the case. 25 The bill permits a judicial officer to waive travel 26 reimbursement for any travel outside the judicial officers 27 county of residence to conduct official business. 28 The bill allows a judicial officer to be placed on unpaid 29 leave on any day a court employee is required to furlough. 30 The bill provides that if a judicial officer is placed on 31 unpaid leave, the salary of the judicial officer shall be 32 reduced accordingly for the pay period in which the unpaid 33 leave occurred. The bill provides that the judicial branch 34 may use an amount equal to the aggregate amount of the salary 35 -7- LSB 5006HV (1) 90 cm/ns 7/ 8
H.F. 2695 reductions due to judicial officer unpaid leave for any purpose 1 other than judicial salaries. 2 The bill states legislative intent that the judicial 3 branch utilize the Iowa communications network or other secure 4 electronic communications in lieu of traveling. 5 The bill sets forth salaries for justices, judges, and 6 magistrates. This provision takes effect June 21, 2024. 7 -8- LSB 5006HV (1) 90 cm/ns 8/ 8