Judiciary committee advances House Bill 1144 after amendments, recommits measure to appropriations

The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced House Bill 1144, the biennial courts bill, and voted to recommit the measure to the Appropriations Committee after adopting multiple amendments, including a contentious change to small-claims eviction venue that passed 9-1.

Representative Jeter, who carried the bill, told the committee the interim judiciary panel had recommended nine of the 10 new judges originally requested and signaled a forthcoming review of how judges are allocated across the state. "If you look at the total number of judges in the state, we're at about a 1," Representative Jeter said, urging a future reallocation process and asking for the committee's support for the judges included in House Bill 1144.

The bill drew a series of amendments the committee accepted either by consent or by roll call. Senators called and the committee passed, by consent, amendments to: raise and redistribute…