The Senate Appropriations Committee voted to give a due-pass recommendation on Senate Bill 2002 as amended, advancing a $151.7 million judicial-branch budget that trims the governor's proposal and includes targeted one-time IT funding and pay increases for judges.

The committee's amendment, moved by Senator Thomas and seconded by Senator Mather, passed the committee 14-2; the committee then approved the bill as amended by roll call, 15-1. The amended budget is roughly $151,704,000 compared with the governor's $166 million recommendation and reduces the governor's proposal of 22 new full-time equivalent positions to 12.

Committee members said the amendment incorporates most of the committee's work on prior subcommittee changes. The package includes one-time investments and ongoing funding for the Supreme Court and district courts and adds positions tied to a separate guardianship bill (Senate Bill 2029).

Key one-time appropriations listed by Senator Thomas include: $874,000 for information technology equipment (server equipment), $758,000 for case-management software cloud migration, $1.25 million for clerk filing software, $960,000 for a court-record access system, $866,000 for cloud-based storage fees, $800,000 for courtroom audio and video upgrades, and $100,000 for Cass County courtroom equipment. The amendment reduced some requests from the branch's ask, and committee members said where possible they trimmed amounts.

The amendment also adjusts judge compensation. Under the adopted plan, the chief justice would receive a 9% pay increase, other Supreme Court justices 8.5%, and district judges 7%. Committee members noted those increases differ from the 3% 'three-and-three' salary pattern applied to most state employees. Senator Thomas said the committee reviewed regional comparables and testimony from practicing attorneys and prosecutors and decided to grant the larger increases to improve competitiveness for judicial applicants.

Committee members pressed staff on several details. Senator Davidson asked whether the one-time 'equipment lease' should be labeled as equipment purchases, noting the descriptive language in the request referred to 'blades' and 'disk drives.' The clerk of the committee and staff confirmed the amendment language was intended to fund information-technology equipment and related expenses.

Members also debated a roughly 5% credit-card processing rate for court payments. Senator Burkhart asked who controls that fee; committee testimony explained the processor is tied to the court software and changing vendors would require replacing software. Alex, legislative counsel, said most court-fee revenue is deposited into the state general fund, with some fees going to dedicated funds such as the Court Improvement Fund and indigent defense support.

The committee discussed how the budget interacts with Senate Bill 2029, which would create a guardianship office. Senator Thomas said the committee moved staffing elements into the judicial budget to ensure operations would be funded if the policy bill (2029) passes; if 2029 fails, the staff positions would be removed and two existing guardianship staff would remain in the Supreme Court budget.

After discussion the committee approved amendment 1001 (motion by Senator Thomas; second by Senator Mather) and later the due-pass motion for the bill as amended (motion by Senator Thomas; second by Senator Burkhart). The committee recorded a final 'do pass as amended' committee vote of 15-1.