North Dakota House lawmakers approved the state's judicial budget on Monday, but without a new judgeship requested for the district that includes Burleigh and Morton counties.
House members unanimously approved the judicial budget, House Bill 1002. State Court Administrator Sally Holewa said Tuesday that court officials will meet soon to discuss the budget bill as it heads to the Senate.
"Really just figure out what we want to ask the Senate to restore and what we'll just let go for another time," Holewa said.
The amended budget bill includes $106.5 million in general fund appropriations — a more than 4 percent increase from the 2017-19 budget cycle. More than 75 percent of the judicial budget is salaries and wages.
The bill also includes 2 percent raises for judges, justices and court staff in each year of the 2019-21 biennium, as proposed for all state employees on the House side.
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House lawmakers also approved five new full-time staff for district courts around North Dakota, including two deputy clerks of court, two law clerks and a clerk of court, costing $841,000. The 2017 session cut about 10 percent of court staff.
Meanwhile, the House side omitted the judgeship and companion court recorder for the South Central Judicial District.
"We looked at how many judges we've added over the last two or three bienniums and it's quite a number," said Rep. Don Vigesaa, R-Cooperstown, who chairs the Government Operations Division.
"I know they'll make the case for that position in the Senate, and I'm sure it'll come down to conference committee and it'll decide if they should be granted that position or not."
The Legislature last authorized new judgeships in 2015, when lawmakers added four judges to district courts around North Dakota.
A weighted caseload study in 2017 identified a shortage of three judges for the South Central Judicial District, which covers nine counties, including Burleigh and Morton. Nine judges serve the district.
The judicial budget requested also proposed a $960,000 remodeling project of the North Dakota Supreme Court Law Library at the state Capitol as a cost-saving maneuver to relocate judicial information technology staff from a rental space in downtown Bismarck.
Vigesaa said committee members saw the savings over time but thought to wait on considering the remodeling project until a revenue forecast in March gives lawmakers a better footing for budgeting.