Judicial branch requests $251.1 million for FY2026; court leaders warn cuts would hinder services and cybersecurity work

The Kansas Judicial Branch presented a fiscal 2026 budget request of $251,100,000 to the Committee on General Government Budget, with judicial leaders warning that reductions would hamper court operations, cybersecurity work and access-to-justice programs.

Molly Pratt, a fiscal analyst with the Legislative Research Department, told the committee that the branch’s FY2026 request is being compared to an approved FY2025 base of about $222.2 million and that the first seven items in the FY2026 request were enhancement requests later deleted by the Legislative Budget Committee (LBC). She outlined multiple requested enhancements, including a $6.5 million state general fund (SGF) request to raise nonjudicial employee salaries 5%; $3.0 million for specialty treatment courts; $3.7 million one‑time to create a student‑focused Judicial Learning Center in the Kansas Judicial Center; and $1.7 million for IT development projects.

Chief Justice Marla Lukert told the committee the branch remains overwhelmingly salary driven, with "approximately 90% of the budget" dedicated to judges’ and employees’ pay and benefits. She said House Bill 207 would cut resources the branch relies on and listed several specific concerns: a $3.0 million reduction in the nonjudge salary base, an $840,853 reappropriation that LBC deleted, and the removal of enhancement requests that she characterized as core work necessary to implement cybersecurity and continuity requirements from prior legislation. "House Bill 207 seriously…