COURT FUNDING H.B. 6204 (S-1): FLOOR ANALYSIS
House Bill 6204 (Substitute S-1 as reported) Sponsor: Representative Michael Nye House Committee: Judiciary and Civil Rights Senate Committee: Judiciary
The bill would amend the Judges Retirement Act to require that the State Treasurer transmit money in the Court Fee Fund to the Court Equity Fund for operational expenses of trial courts.
The Judges Retirement Act requires that the Michigan Judges Retirement System transmit to the State Treasurer all court fees received by the executive secretary for deposit in the retirement system’s reserve for employer contributions. If the retirement system determines that the amount deposited, in addition to other publicly financed contributions, equals the amount needed to sustain the required level of publicly financed contributions, the executive secretary must transmit to the Treasurer the remainder of the court fees received during the fiscal year for deposit into the Court Fee Fund. The State Treasurer must disburse the money in the Court Fee Fund for “state-financed trial courts”. (This term was used, prior to the enactment of Public Act 374 of 1996, to refer to the Third Circuit Court (Wayne County), the Detroit Recorder’s, and 36th District Court (Detroit).)
The bill would require, instead, that the State Treasurer transmit money in the Court Fee Fund to the Court Equity Fund for operational expenses of trial courts. (Public Act 374 created the Court Equity Fund to allocate State revenues to trial courts in all 83 counties.)
MCL 38.2217 et al. Legislative Analyst: P. Affholter
The bill would make up for a current shortfall in the Court Equity Fund by redirecting excess court filing fees for judges retirement from the Court Fee Fund to the Court Equity Fund. This is estimated to be $2.2 million in FY 1996-97, and would provide for the total $50,004,000 budgeted in the judicial budget.
Date Completed: 12-5-96 Fiscal Analyst: M. Ortiz
floor\hb6204
This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.