JBC sets symbolic $5 line-item increase, avoiding statute change for court-appointed counsel rates

The Joint Budget Committee confronted a contentious choice over increases to court-appointed counsel contractor rates during judicial figure-setting and opted for a procedural compromise that avoids running legislation this session.

Scott Thompson, JBC staff, told members the statutory allowance for the hourly contractor rate could mean a multi-million-dollar increase in the long bill. He recommended running legislation to pause the statutory allowance; doing so, he said, would save an estimated $4.68 million in general fund this cycle. Some members worried about running a bill that might be viewed as infringing on independent entities.

To avoid legislation while also preventing a large automatic increase, the committee instead approved a procedural fix: increase the total appropriation for the line item by $5 (a nominal total amount, not $5 per contractor). That approach keeps the line item technically increased while avoiding the multi-million-dollar cost that would result from applying the full statutory per-hour increase across all appointments.

Vice Chair Bridges moved the approach to set the total appropriation increase at $5, and the motion carried unanimously. Scott Thompson noted the committee could revisit this as common policies and broader compensation decisions are finalized.

What happens next: The committee's action prevents a large, immediate GF increase tied to contractor-rate growth this cycle; staff cautioned members to re-examine the issue during common-policy decisions next week.