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Senate approves fund for emergency courthouse repairs; creates small nonreverting AOC reserve
Summary
The Judiciary Committee approved a bill creating a fund to pay for emergency or unforeseen repairs to court‑owned property administered by the Administrative Office of the Courts. Sponsor and AOC officials said the fund would allow prompt repairs to avoid bigger costs; committee adopted a due‑pass without objection.
The Senate Judiciary Committee gave a due‑pass recommendation to SB301, which would create an Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC)‑administered fund to pay for emergency or unforeseen repairs to court‑owned property. Sponsor Senator Paul and Cynthia Pacheco, director of court operations, told the committee the fund is intended to allow prompt repairs to keep public court facilities open and avoid higher costs later.
Pacheco said postponing necessary repairs often leads to more severe damage and higher overall expense. The bill would establish a nonreverting fund; the sponsor offered a $450,000 initial figure during committee discussion as an illustrative level designed to make modest emergency responses possible without leaving a large balance idle. Pacheco told the committee that, if the fund were in place, it could reduce the need to take money from other court appropriations or to wait for a board of finance action in an emergency.
Committee members asked whether counties already provide court facility funds; witnesses noted SB301 applies only to facilities owned by the judiciary (Supreme Court, Court of Appeals facilities, Metro Court and future judiciary‑owned magistrate courts) and not to county‑owned courthouses. Several senators said the fund could prevent long closures for urgent repairs and avoid repeated reallocation of agency funds.
The committee approved the bill by voice without recorded opposition and passed the measure out of committee for further consideration.
The AOC said the fund would be used for timely interventions that prevent small problems from becoming major repairs; staff indicated the initial amount would be subject to future appropriation and that the legislature can revisit the fund level as the judiciary acquires additional judiciary‑owned buildings.
Action: Committee moved and adopted a due‑pass recommendation on SB301 without objection.
