Bill would let counties fund additional judicial officers in large circuits

House Bill 482, presented to the House Judiciary Committee, would permit counties within judicial circuits that have 15 or more judges to provide local funding for up to five additional judicial officers. The bill says the chief judge would select those officers, and it requires that they meet the same qualifications as sitting judges.

Proponents said the locally funded officers would take on less complex and pro se matters, allowing judges to focus on more complex civil and criminal cases. “Our judicial officers tend to handle more of the pro se cases. It allows us to get into more of the complex cases as they get to us,” Judge Kelly Ellerbee said during the committee presentation.

Supporters said the change is intended to increase judicial efficiency and reduce case backlog. A court administrator who joined the judges for the presentation described the proposal as compatible with how some circuits already use locally funded officers on the family law bench and said similar staffing would be allowed for nonviolent criminal, civil and other matters as the bill is written.

Committee members asked procedural questions about the status and selection of judicial officers and were told the chief judge would select officers who meet the same statutory qualifications as judges. The presenters noted that, if the bill passes, counties would need to secure funding from their county commissions; that is, passage would authorize counties to offer funding but would not itself appropriate money.

The transcript records a motion and a second after the presentation, but a final roll‑call or recorded outcome for House Bill 482 does not appear in the segment provided.

The discussion on this bill took place early in the committee hearing and included judges and the court administrator answering members’ questions. No changes to statutory language were described during the discussion recorded in the transcript.