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Judicial Council approves preliminary $3.076 billion allocation from Trial Court Trust Fund
Summary
The Judicial Council approved preliminary allocations totaling $3,076,000,000 for trial court operations in fiscal year 2025–26, with $3,000,000,000 from the Trial Court Trust Fund and $117,800,000 from the General Fund.
The Judicial Council approved preliminary allocations totaling $3,076,000,000 for trial court operations in fiscal year 2025–26, with $3,000,000,000 from the Trial Court Trust Fund and $117,800,000 from the state General Fund.
The allocations, presented by Judge Conklin and Judicial Council Budget Services staff Zlatko Theodorovic, reflect the council’s allocation methodology and updated workload formula inputs. Judge Conklin told the council, “We’re asking the council to consider today . . . the preliminary allocation of $3,076,000,000 from the Trial Court Trust Fund and the General Fund.”
The council and staff said the workload formula calculated a funding need of about $2,991,000,000 using existing 2017 case weights and labor data; available funding for formula distribution was approximately $2.5–2.6 billion, yielding a funding level of 85.9% of need. The allocation package includes a series of targeted adjustments: $42,000,000 of ongoing restorations to partially offset prior reductions, $40,000,000 in ongoing General Fund to address operational cost increases, $19,700,000 in ongoing General Fund for trial court employee health benefits, and $3,300,000 in equity-based reallocations intended to narrow funding disparities among courts.
Judge Conklin also asked the council to delegate limited authority to the administrative director to make baseline technical adjustments of up to 10% of specific allocations to allow for administrative corrections and final technical actions after the council’s approval. The council approved the recommendations by voice vote after a motion and second; no recorded noes or abstentions were stated on the record.
The council also noted it will continue to use existing 2017 case weights for the 2025–26 workload calculation and deferred adoption of revised case weights to fiscal year 2026–27 to give courts time to plan for changes.
Background and next steps: the allocations will be distributed to trial courts in monthly payments and are subject to final technical adjustments by Budget Services staff and the administrative director as delegated. The council’s approval is a preliminary budgetary action; detailed court-by-court distributions will follow ongoing technical work by Budget Services.
