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Committee keeps specialty court funding, trims FTEs and removes learning center from judicial budget
Summary
The Committee on General Government Budget voted to accept the judicial branch budget for FY2026–27 with amendments that preserve specialty courts funding, reduce specialty-court FTEs from 3.5/3 to 2, remove a proposed learning center line, and strip undefined 'hospitality' language pending a dollar figure.
The Committee on General Government Budget voted to approve the judicial branch budget for fiscal years 2026 and 2027 with several committee amendments, the chair announced after a voice vote.
Madam Chair said the committee would retain specialty courts funding but reduce the proposed specialty-court full-time equivalents (FTEs) from the requested level to two, telling members the courts "can come back and ask for more." Amy Deckard of the Kansas judicial branch asked the committee to change bill language so training and hospitality payments could be processed from fee funds rather than the state general fund: "We're, asking to change the bill language, as a part of our switch to fee funds…" Deckard said, adding she could provide historical spending figures when requested.
Jacob Klesby of legislative research summarized the committee amendments: removal of a $5,000 SGF reappropriation, removal of the learning center enhancement, adjustment of the 3.5 FTEs to two FTEs under other adjustments, retention of specialty-courts funding, removal of hospitality language from the bill text, and retention of the nonjudge salary increase as presented in the budget recommendation.
Representative Riley reminded members that district and other judicial salaries are indexed to federal judicial adjustments and will likely rise in coming years independent of the committee's actions, noting the committee's primary discretion is over nonjudicial staff pay.
On hospitality language, the chair declined to approve undefined spending: "I'm not gonna give you a blank check," she said, and asked Deckard to provide an estimate for committee review or to work on a proviso specifying amounts and conditions. After brief discussion, Representative Pickert moved to accept the judicial budget with the committee's amendments; the motion carried on a voice vote with no recorded opposed votes in the transcript.
What this means: specialty courts programs will keep funding but will operate with fewer newly budgeted staff than originally requested; the learning center and unspecified hospitality language were removed or deferred pending clearer dollar amounts or proviso language. The committee left the juvenile coordinator and other position requests to be considered for inclusion in the 2027 budget, with members indicating they may advocate for them in appropriations.
