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Senate debates raising juror pay after fiscal-note confusion; sponsor to offer amendment
Summary
Senate Bill 370 drew extended committee scrutiny after differing fiscal notes suggested either district-only state costs or a $10 million statewide shift; the sponsor proposed an amendment to have the state cover district-court costs while leaving county responsibility intact.
Senator Mike Yakowich (Senate District 24) presented Senate Bill 370, proposing to increase juror pay from the current $12 per day with a higher schedule for subsequent days. Yakowich framed the bill as addressing financial barriers that reduce jury pool diversity and reviewed state-by-state comparisons to support a raised rate.
The hearing focused on large differences between two fiscal-note versions. Yakowich recounted meeting with judicial and budget staff and said an early fiscal note focused on district-court costs only (roughly $436,000 for district court), while later calculations extended costs to municipal and justice courts and produced a larger $10 million figure. Court Administrator Dave McAlpin and Judicial Branch Finance Director Kathy Penny appeared as informational witnesses to explain the assumptions that produced the higher total, including whether county-borne jury costs would become state obligations under the bill language.
Committee members probed who would ultimately pay increased costs, whether counties would carry new obligations (affecting local property taxes), and whether the Judicial Branch would need additional staff to process reimbursements. McAlpin said if the bill were enacted as written, the branch might need at least one additional FTE to process statewide jury-fee reimbursements.
Yakowich told senators he planned to offer an amendment that would ensure the state covers district-court juror pay but leave county duties intact; he said the amendment could be available the same day or by the next day. The committee closed the hearing on SB370 with the sponsor committing to bring the amendment for consideration.
