Kentucky Court of Justice outlines budget shortfall risks, capital projects and planned requests for judicial pay and IT fees

Zach Ramsey, director of the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), told a Kentucky House committee that the Kentucky Court of Justice is managing current appropriations while preparing anticipated budget requests for the next biennium, including judicial compensation, information‑technology subscription fees and continued facility maintenance.

Ramsey and his staff outlined several appropriation figures and program updates. He said the court operations general‑fund appropriation for fiscal year 2025 is $317,400,000. He said restricted‑fund carryforward into FY25 was roughly $51,400,000 and noted the administrative office has roughly 18 active federal grants supporting specialty courts and other programs.

Carol Henderson, budget director for the Administrative Office of the Courts, reviewed the agency appropriation units and current forecast. She said that when the office modeled FY25 expenditures using FY24 data, estimated FY25 spending was $337.5 million—higher than the legislative appropriation—creating a budgeting gap that executives are managing through temporary holds and use…