TITLE: CONCERNING ADDITIONAL COUNTY COURT JUDGES, AND, IN CONNECTION THEREWITH, CREATING ONE NEW COUNTY COURT JUDGE IN EACH OF THE COUNTIES OF BOULDER AND LARIMER, AND MAKING AN APPROPRIATION IN CONNECTION THEREWITH.

Fiscal Impact Summary	FY 1999/2000	FY 2000/2001
State Revenues General Fund
State Expenditures General Fund	$538,021	$368,468
FTE Position Change	7.4 FTE	7.4 FTE
Other State Impact: None
Effective Date: Upon signature of the Governor
Appropriation Summary for FY 1999-2000: Judicial Department - $476,502 GF and 6.0 FTE Office of the Public Defender - $61,519 GF and 1.4 FTE
Local Government Impact: Counties will bear the cost of potential increases in courthouse maintenance and operation.

The earlier fiscal note dated January 26, 1999 reflected an estimated county court judge salary of $90,000 and a personal services cost for a public defender of $39,046. This revised fiscal note accounts for the FY 1999-00 Long Bill appropriation to increase the county court judge salary by only 4.6 percent to $81,590. This fiscal note also provides the correct personal services cost for a public defender of $39,711.

This bill (as amended by the House Judiciary Committee, February 11, 1999) authorizes the addition of one county court judge to each of Boulder and Larimer Counties. The amended bill appropriates $496,186 and 6.0 FTE General Fund to the Judicial Department, and $60,855 and 1.4 FTE General Fund to the state Public Defender for FY 1999-00.

The bill increases the annual expenditures of the Judicial Department starting FY 1999-00 to accommodate two new courtrooms, as identified in Table 1 on page 2 of this fiscal note. Currently, each county court judge is staffed with a Division Clerk and an Assistant Division Clerk. The Office of the Public Defender estimates that an additional public defender, a part-time investigator, and additional support staff will be necessary to handle the increased number of courtrooms at which attorneys will be expected to be present. Expenditures for the Office of the Public Defender are outlined in Table 2 on page 3 of this fiscal note.

This bill may result in increased courthouse maintenance and operating costs due to the increase in staff and trial activity created by the addition of two county court judges. Under current law, counties bear these costs. The amount of these increased costs cannot be quantified at this time.

Table 1: Judicial Department -- Addition of Two County Court Judges and Courtrooms

.	FTE	FY 1999-00	FY 2000-01
Personal Services (including PERA and Medicare)
Judges* Division Clerks Asst. Division Clerks	2.0 2.0 2.0	$190,023 60,451 49,753	$190,023 60,451 49,753
Subtotal	6.0	$300,228	$300,228
Operating/Travel Expenses
Judges Division Clerks Asst. Division Clerks	.	$10,700 1,200 1,200	$10,700 1,200 1,200
Subtotal	.	$13,100	$13,100
Capital Outlay - Furnishings
Courtrooms Jury deliberation rooms Attorney/client conference room Judges' chambers Libraries Staff office areas	.	$99,628 11,534 3,608 29,004 4,000 15,400	$0
Subtotal	.	$163,174	$0
Total	6.0	$476,502	$313,328

* This reflects a salary increase of 4.6% to $81,590 appropriated in the FY 1999-00 Long Bill.

.	FTE	FY 1999-00	FY 2000-01
Personal Services (including PERA and Medicare)
Public Defender Investigator Admin. Asst. I	1.0 0.3 0.1	$39,711 9,479 2,483	$39,711 9,479 2,483
Subtotal	1.4	$51,673	$51,673
Operating/Travel Expenses
Public Defender Investigator Admin. Asst. I	.	$2,504 751 213	$2,504 751 213
Subtotal	.	$3,468	$3,468
Capital Outlay
Office area - Public Defender Office area - Investigator Office area - Admin. Asst. I	.	$4,556 1,367 456	$0
Subtotal (may not add due to rounding)	.	$6,378	$0
Total	1.4	$61,519	$55,141

Pursuant to the Joint Budget Committee’s budget policies, the following expenditures have not been included in this fiscal note:

This fiscal note implies the Judicial Department will require a General Fund appropriation of $476,502 and 6.0 FTE for FY 1999-00 and the Office of the Public Defender will require a General Fund appropriation of $61,519 and 1.4 FTE for FY 1999-00.