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Subcommittee approves judiciary budget substitute and trims court program funding amid questions on resentencing costs
Summary
By a 4–1 vote the subcommittee adopted the H1 substitute for House Bill 5608, reducing some judiciary program funding (including a $6.9 million cut to the statewide case management system and a $7.66 million reduction tied to Supreme Court administration), while retaining one‑time resentencing funds and eliminating a required medication‑assisted treatment section.
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Corrections and Judiciary approved the H1 substitute for House Bill 5608 by a 4–1 vote, moving the judiciary budget to the full House Appropriations Committee.
Chair Slaw summarized the house substitute as roughly $371.8 million gross with about $264 million in general fund–general purpose. The substitute reduces funding for a statewide case management system by about $6.9 million GFGP and cuts roughly $7.66 million GFGP from Supreme Court administration based on the committee's response to a proposed court rule and resentencing workload. The substitute removes a boilerplate requirement for the judicial branch to maintain a medication-assisted treatment program but retains $2.0 million (one time) for juvenile life resentencing and adds roughly $5.7 million gross (about $5.4 million GFGP) for economic adjustments.
Representative O'Neal questioned whether the cuts to court funding were punitive in reaction to a court rule change and asked whether the reductions would lead to job eliminations at administrative offices or delays in implementing a statewide case management system. "So do we not see a constitutional separation of powers issue here?" O'Neal asked, pressing whether the committee was penalizing the court for a judicial rule.
Chair Slaw replied that resentencing decisions carry associated costs and that the house substitute attempts to address related workload, noting retained funds remain to continue case management work. Mr. Reese observed the substitute reduces the budget by about 3% from last year while retaining FTE levels, framing that as a means to reduce spending without raising taxes or fees.
Representative Markin moved to adopt the H1 substitute for House Bill 5608. The clerk recorded votes as: Chair Slaw — yes; Representative Markin — yes; Representative Bon — yes; Representative Cavitt — yes; Representative O'Neal — no. The substitute was adopted and then reported as H1 to the House Appropriations Committee.
The subcommittee also restored many boilerplate sections deleted in the executive recommendation while specifically agreeing to delete the section requiring a judicial medication-assisted-treatment program and revising language related to swift-and-sure sanctions. The substitute authorizes limited-term hires to handle increased resentencing hearings.
The subcommittee adjourned following the vote.
