HLS 15RS-694 ORIGINAL
2015 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 698
BY REPRESENTATIVE ABRAMSON
Prefiled pursuant to Article III, Section 2(A)(4)(b)(i) of the Constitution of Louisiana.
BUDGETARY PROCEDURES: Requires the judiciary to prepare an annual financial
report
1 AN ACT
2To amend and reenact R.S. 13:81(B)(2) and 83(A) and (C) and to enact R.S. 13:83(E),
3 relative to judicial financial reporting; to require an annual financial report of certain
4 prior year judicial budget information; to provide for an effective date; and to
5 provide for related matters.
6Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
7 Section 1. R.S. 13:81(B)(2) and 83(A) and (C) are hereby amended and reenacted
8and R.S. 13:83(E) is hereby enacted to read as follows:
9 §81. Short title; legislative intent
10 * * *
11 B.
12 * * *
13 (2) The legislature acknowledges that the development and implementation
14 of the budget and performance accountability system is the responsibility of the
15 judicial system acting under the supervisory and administrative authority of the
16 supreme court. The legislature recognizes that the development of such a system
17 will require the cooperation of elected judges, most of whose operating funding is
18 provided by local governments. The legislature also recognizes that the development
19 of such a system will require the cooperation of other elected officials, such as
20 clerks of court and other judicial branch officers, who are not under the direct
21 supervisory and administrative control of the supreme court and judicial system.
22 Because of these complexities affecting the judicial branch, the legislature
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are additions. HLS 15RS-694 ORIGINAL
HB NO. 698
1 acknowledges that the development of the system will require time and good faith
2 on the part of all parties. The legislature pledges its cooperation in assisting the
3 supreme court to develop, implement, and maintain the budget and performance
4 accountability system.
5 * * *
6 §83. Judicial appropriation bill; operational plans and annual financial report
7 A. The Judicial Budgetary Control Board shall refer to the judiciary's
8 strategic plan and annual financial report for each level of court in the development
9 of the judicial appropriation bill and its accompanying operational plan.
10 * * *
11 C. The Judicial Budgetary Control Board shall submit, together with the
12 judicial appropriation bill as provided in R.S. 39:51(D), an annual financial report
13 and an operational plan which shall, to the maximum extent practicable, be
14 consistent with the judiciary's strategic plan.
15 * * *
16 E. (1) The Judicial Budgetary Control Board, or a judicial body designated
17 by the supreme court, shall develop a standardized way to define or classify
18 expenditures, revenues, and employee positions for the judiciary and shall use such
19 definitions or classifications to prepare an annual financial report. The Judicial
20 Budgetary Control Board shall use the report in the development of the judicial
21 appropriation bill and shall submit the report to the governor, the speaker of the
22 House of Representatives, and the president of the Senate on the same day that R.S.
23 39:51(D) requires the judicial appropriation bill to be submitted to the legislature.
24 The Judicial Budgetary Control Board shall also make the report available to the
25 public on the website of the supreme court on the same day the judicial appropriation
26 bill is submitted to the legislature.
27 (2) The report shall contain information as required in this Subsection for
28 each court, including but not limited to the supreme court, each intermediate court
29 of appeal, each district court, and each family and juvenile court.
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HB NO. 698
1 (3) The report shall contain the following for each court, and each budget
2 unit of each court, for the last fiscal year concluded:
3 (a) A comparison of total revenue and total expenditure.
4 (b) A detailed list of each source of revenue and the amount of each source.
5 For the purpose of this Subsection, source of revenue shall include but is not limited
6 to funding from the state, local governmental entities, federal agencies, the judicial
7 expense fund, and self-generated revenues such as fines, fees, and penalties.
8 (c) Expenditures by program or function.
9 (d) The number of employee positions.
10 Section 2. This Act shall become effective on July 1, 2015; if vetoed by the governor
11and subsequently approved by the legislature, this Act shall become effective on July 1,
122015, or on the day following such approval by the legislature, whichever is later.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HB 698 Original 2015 Regular Session Abramson
Abstract: Requires the judiciary to prepare and submit an annual financial report of
expenditures, revenues, and employee positions for the last fiscal year concluded.
Proposed law requires the Judicial Budgetary Control Board, or a judicial body designated
by the supreme court, to develop an annual financial report to communicate expenditures,
revenues, and employee positions for the judiciary for the last fiscal year concluded. The
report will be used in the development of the judicial appropriation bill. Further, the board
is required to submit the report to the governor, the speaker of the House of Representatives,
and the president of the Senate, and also make the report available on the supreme court
website on the same day that present law requires the judicial appropriation bill to be
submitted to the legislature.
Proposed law requires that the report contain information on expenditures, revenues, and
employee positions of the judiciary as required in proposed law for each level of court,
including the supreme court, the intermediate court of appeal, the district courts, and family
and juvenile courts.
Effective July 1, 2015.
(Amends 13:81(B)(2) and 83(A) and (C); Adds 13:83(E))
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