Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Judicial Administration topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Judicial Council budget approved; council highlights publications, forms and advisory committees
Summary
The committee approved the Judicial Council’s fiscal year 2025 and 2026 budgets after the council’s executive director described the agency’s advisory committees, publications and recent transition from fee funding to the State General Fund.
The Committee on General Government Budget approved the Legislative Budget Committee’s recommendations for the Judicial Council’s fiscal year 2025 and 2026 budgets after the council described its work producing legal forms, publications and advisory‑committee studies.
Molly Pratt, fiscal analyst with the Legislative Research Department, presented the budget analysis and noted the 2025 approved amount and the council’s FY2026 request of $730,028, which is primarily salaries and wages. Nancy Strauss, executive director of the Judicial Council, then explained the council’s advisory committees, public‑facing legal forms and the five legal publications the council sells and distributes.
Pratt told the committee that the Judicial Council carried over approximately $67,922 in unspent State General Fund (SGF) money into fiscal year 2025 — a lapse the LBC did not include in the reappropriation. She said the FY2025 revised estimate was lower than the approved amount largely because the council printed and distributed fewer legal publications and held fewer in‑person advisory committee meetings than anticipated, reducing printing and travel costs. Pratt also noted modest changes to travel and salary line items tied to committee per diems and employer fringe contributions.
Strauss outlined four main categories of the council’s work: legislatively and court‑requested studies conducted by advisory committees; drafting and maintaining hundreds of legal forms (including forms required by statute and forms for self‑represented litigants); producing five legal publications used by judges and attorneys (including pattern jury instructions); and drafting or updating statutory codes, such as a guardianship uniform law under development.
Strauss said many advisory committees do not meet continuously but meet as assignments arise; the council projects about 70 total meetings this fiscal year including subcommittee sessions. She also noted that the council’s publications historically generated revenue that is deposited to the State General Fund and that the FY2026 request accounts for years when fewer books will be printed, explaining why FY2026 totals appear lower than FY2025.
Representative Adam Turck moved to approve the LBC recommendations for the Judicial Council budgets; Representative Bill Riley seconded. Chairwoman Walsinger called a voice vote and announced the motion passed.
Committee members praised the council’s transparency and responsiveness to legislative requests for studies; Representative Riley and others said they appreciated the council’s performance‑oriented materials and the availability of forms and publications that support self‑represented litigants. The committee recorded no roll‑call vote.
