Judiciary committee backs measure to let excess courthouse bond funds cover other repairs

The Joint Standing Committee on the Judiciary voted in work session to recommend LD 1997, a judiciary-sponsored bill that would amend existing MGFA bond language to allow any excess proceeds originally designated for Ellsworth, Skowhegan and Lewiston courthouse projects to be directed to other courthouse needs across the state.

Senator David Hagen, who sponsored the bill, said some courthouses are in “serious disrepair,” and that closures — including Newport’s temporary shutdown because of unsafe mold — create barriers to access to justice. Julie Finn of the judicial branch told the committee the amendment would not change the priority funding for the three projects named in the bond; it would only allow excess funds, if any, to be used on other projects such as reestablishing a local court presence in Newport.

OPLA analyst Eli Murphy read a preliminary fiscal-impact statement noting the judicial-branch bonds outstanding would remain capped at the statutory level and that expanding eligible projects could create additional future debt-service costs, but no estimate of those costs can be made until a specific project is identified.

Committee members asked about timing and caps for bond releases and whether remediation of the Newport leased facility was the branch’s responsibility; Finn said the lease was terminated and the branch does not own the Newport building, so the bill contemplates using funds for courthouse projects beyond that leased location.

Representative Jennifer Poirier moved to suspend the rules and go immediately into work session; after brief discussion the committee recorded an 'ought to pass' work-session recommendation with 11 members voting in the affirmative, 0 opposed and 3 absent. The committee clerk recorded the result and instructions that the bill return with the fiscal note language incorporated.