Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Judicial Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate Judiciary hears Kansas judicial branch FY2027 request including $1.5M for specialty courts
Summary
The judicial branch requested an approximately $246.1 million budget for FY2027, a roughly $6 million increase from FY2026, asking to renew a $1.5 million specialty-court transfer, add three regional specialty-court coordinator FTEs, fund a scaled learning-center exhibit, and seek nonjudge salary increases.
The Kansas Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday heard the judicial branch's FY2027 budget presentation, which calls for an overall request of about $246.1 million, roughly $6 million more than the approved FY2026 total of $240.2 million.
Molly Pratt, a fiscal analyst with the Legislative Research Department, told the committee the judicial branch's FY2026 expenditures totaled roughly $240.2 million, including about $230.2 million from the State General Fund, and that salaries and wages account for roughly 89—10% of the branch's spending. "The judicial branch encompasses the Kansas Supreme Court, the Kansas Court of Appeals, the District Courts of Kansas, judicial and professional review boards, and staff who help with the administration of the judiciary," Pratt said in opening remarks.
The branch asked the committee to renew a $1.5 million transfer from the State General Fund to the specialty court resources fund for fiscal year 2027 to support equipment, drug-testing subsidies, training, regional grants and other operational costs. The agency also requested three regional specialty-court coordinator FTEs; the branch plans to use previously appropriated specialty-court funds to cover salary costs for those positions so the enhancement package requests the FTEs but not additional salary funding.
Chief Justice Eric Rosen outlined the priorities behind the requests, stressing workforce and court operations. "The enhancement requests before you today are focused on supporting that workforce and addressing real operational needs," Rosen said, noting that nearly 90% of judicial branch spending is for personnel. Rosen said specialty courts remain locally driven and that the requested funding supplements local efforts by covering equipment, training and program supports.
Other items in the branch's request include a reduced capital request for an interactive learning exhibit in the Supreme Court Law Library (a prior $3.7 million request was phased down to a $325,000 outlay in FY26 and a proposed $300,000 exhibit in FY27), a $103,296 request and 1 FTE for a court-services juvenile coordinator, and an $886,795 rural justice initiative tied to legislation (a loan-repayment and attorney-training program). The branch also proposed $3.5 million to provide salary increases for nonjudge employees (estimated as a 2.5% across-the-board adjustment pending distribution by a salary study).
Committee members pressed for details on FTE costs, specialty-court outcomes and the learning-center design and funding. Pratt and Amy Decker, chief financial officer for the judicial branch, said the branch will supply data and analysis to justify regional coordinator staffing and that a multi-agency stakeholder group (including the State Department of Education and the Historical Society) has been involved in planning the learning center and exploring alternative funding sources.
The committee received supplemental testimony from Judge Tim McCarthy of the Tenth Judicial District about specialty-court operations and outcomes and from Kansas Legal Services about expungement and license-restoration clinics. Members said they will continue to press for clearer statewide metrics and fiscal analysis before approving enhancements.
Next steps: the committee closed the hearing, noted written testimony filed by conferees, and will continue work on budget amendments and bill hearings in upcoming committee sessions.
