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Judiciary budget hearing surfaces private home detention funding cliff; committee seeks bridge and statutory fixes
Summary
During the Judiciary budget review, committee members were briefed on court performance measures and two problems drew extended scrutiny: (1) case processing and problem-solving courts, and (2) a fiscal crisis in the privately run pretrial home detention monitoring program that reached its $5 million statutory cap, halting payments and affecting about 650 people.
Department of Legislative Services analysts briefed the Public Safety, Transportation and Environment Subcommittee on the Judiciary's fiscal 2025 operating allowance and related program issues, then the hearing shifted to an urgent operational problem in the privately administered pretrial home detention monitoring program.
Budget overview and programmatic priorities DLS analyst Jacob Polikoff said the Judiciary's FY25 operating allowance increases by $31.8 million (4.2%) to $788.5 million, citing new positions, judge salary adjustments and contractual services as drivers. Polikoff highlighted continued improvements in some case processing measures but noted CINA shelter and termination of parental rights (TPR) cases remain above Judiciary standards and recommended reports on court performance. DLS also recommended additional reporting on problem-solving court funding, the appointed attorney program, and major IT projects including the Maryland Electronic Courts (MDEC) rollout and optimization.
Pretrial private home detention: funding shortfall and program pause The session turned to a separate,…
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