Subcommittee adopts dash‑1 to House Bill 5012, moves Judicial Department budget to full committee

The Subcommittee on Public Safety on June 5 adopted a dash‑1 amendment to House Bill 5012, the primary budget measure for the Judicial Department for the 2025–27 biennium, and moved the bill to the full Ways and Means Committee with a due‑pass recommendation.

The Legislative Fiscal Office recommended the budget and the amendment that the subcommittee adopted. The dash‑1 amendment establishes a recommended budget that the LFO described as $872,966,983 in general fund, $1,023,600 in other funds, $5,408,623 in federal funds, for a total funds position count of 2,178 positions and 2,127.62 FTE. The LFO presentation also described a set of program packages and one‑time adjustments including shifts in criminal fines account allocations to the general fund.

Why it matters: The measure funds courts and court operations statewide and contains targeted investments the LFO highlighted as priorities for the coming biennium — including funding for court interpreters, positions to address the unrepresented defendant caseload, courthouse security grants and staffing, appellate and circuit court staff positions, and continuation of grant‑funded positions and planning dollars carried forward from prior federal grants.

What the LFO presented: LFO staff summarized the department’s role and the overall recommended totals. “Primary explanation for the decrease from this current biennium is related to capital construction activities and other one‑time investments,” LFO staff said, describing why total funding differs from the current biennium. The presentation listed programmatic packages by page and package number, including:

- Revenue shortfall and backfill packages for indigency verification and public defense support (package 070: reduction of roughly $2.39 million other funds and removal of 10 positions; package 122: $2.4 million general fund backfill to restore 10 positions and 10 FTE). - Continuing limited‑duration positions to assist with the unrepresented defendant situation (package 106: about $2.4 million general fund, 9 positions, 9 FTE). - Court management and staffing packages adding positions across multiple circuit courts (package 107 and related court management packages totaling several million dollars and multiple permanent positions in counties listed by LFO). - Interpreter services stabilization (package 123: $7.5 million general fund targeted primarily to increase interpreter services funding). - Oregon eCourt program adjustments including a roughly $2.27 million other‑fund revenue shortfall offset by a general fund backfill (package 125). - Capital and courthouse construction carryforwards and expenditure‑limitation adjustments tied to the Oregon Courthouse Capital Construction Improvement Fund, including carryforward and expenditure limitation authority for Benton, Morrow and Crook counties and the start of the Clackamas County public‑private courthouse payment stream. - One‑time American Rescue Plan Act carryforward dollars for courthouse planning and annex renovations (LFO cited $3 million for Harney County, $100,000 for Umatilla, and $402,549 for Hood River for planning/renovation activities).

On courthouse safety, the LFO described package 101 (community and courthouse safety): roughly $2,525,884, two positions (1.76 FTE) and $2,000,000 in grants to counties to improve courthouse security. LFO identified a preliminary list of eligible counties that includes Coos, Curry, Grant, Harney, Jefferson, Linn and Polk counties.

Criminal fines account adjustments: The dash‑1 contains current‑biennium adjustments that shift criminal fines account allocations into the general fund because of forecasted revenue shortfalls. The LFO described two related adjustments: a $1.7 million shift for a one‑time adjustment and another package that reduced an allocation from the criminal fines account by $4 million and replaced it with $4 million of general fund.

Questions and committee discussion: Subcommittee members asked whether pending policy recommendations for indigent defense would require further budget adjustments; LFO staff replied that they anticipated no further adjustments to the Judicial Department measure at this time and noted convergence with the Public Defense Commission budget that the subcommittee will consider. Committee members also raised procedural and jurisdictional points about assignment of additional public safety bills to the subcommittee.

Motions and next steps: The chair moved and the subcommittee adopted the LFO recommendation on the bill and separately moved adoption of the dash‑1 amendment. After the amendment passed without recorded opposition, the subcommittee moved House Bill 5012, as amended, to the full Ways and Means Committee with a due‑pass recommendation. The subcommittee scheduled further meetings for related budgets (the Public Defense Commission) early in the following week.

The subcommittee record shows no roll‑call vote totals for the motions; the actions were adopted by voice/consent with no recorded objections during the hearing.