Judiciary requests pay raises, 22 FTEs, guardianship office and AI filing tools in $167M biennial budget ask

Chief Justice John Jensen and State Court Administrator Sally Halloway told the Appropriations - Education and Environment Division that the judicial branch’s 2025–27 budget request centers on raising judicial salaries, adding staff across district operations and court services, and upgrading technology to improve case processing.

The branch requested approximately $166.9 million for the next biennium (an increase of roughly $37.2 million over base), citing personnel costs, IT maintenance and several new programs including an Office of Guardianship and Conservatorship, a pilot court‑navigator position and an allied legal professional pilot.

The budget matters because court officials said salaries and staffing shortfalls are increasing turnover in clerk offices, straining juvenile and adult court services, and limiting the courts’ ability to handle growing demand for self‑help resources and specialist dockets.

Chief Justice John Jensen opened the presentation and asked the committee to consider several priorities, including judicial salary increases and expanded personnel. He said the legislature’s addition of three judgeships in the prior session “are greatly helping us with our excess workload in those two districts,” and thanked members for that prior action.

State Court Administrator Sally Halloway walked through the budget line items and the branch’s priorities and made a blunt plea on staffing: “Please give us some money. Don’t ask any questions,” she said, then immediately proceeded to explain the line‑by‑line need. Halloway told the committee that…