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Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Ind. Courts - Part II: What are the funding details of the state-wide case tracking system?

The Indianapolis Star story from March 8th called it a "$70 million project" that "has eaten up at least $7.5 million so far."

A Fort Wayne Journal Gazette editorial from March 16th said:

The project is funded by a $2 increase in court fees. The committee does not know how much more this will cost before it is completed, but the vice chairman of the judicial technology committee, Court of Appeals Judge Paul Mathias, disputes the $74 million price tag bandied about by Indianapolis media.
So what are the "true facts" about the money involved in the state-wide court records project? Here are the laws involved, and some of the numbers:

The Automated Record Keeping Fee. IC 33-37-5-21 establishes the fee:

Sec. 21. (a) This section applies to all civil, criminal, infraction, and ordinance violation actions.

(b) The clerk shall collect the following automated record keeping fee:

(1) Seven dollars ($7) after June 30, 2003, and before July 1, 2009.
(2) Four dollars ($4) after June 30, 2009.
According to a speech made by Justice Sullivan on May 8, 2003, "Each year more than 1.6 million cases are filed in Indiana." So that would result in Automated Record Keeping Fee collections of about $11,200,000 per year for the next five years. But see below.

Distribution of Court Fees. IC 33-37-7 concerns the distribution of court fees. What it basically says that is relevant here is that 100% of the Automated Record Keeping Fee collected at the local level shall be semiannually distributed to the Auditor of State for deposit in the State User Fee Fund. As you can see from looking at IC 33-37-7-1(b), a percentage of a number of other fees collected (such as 100 % of the highway work zone fees and 50% of the child abuse prevention fees) are also to be deposited in the State User Fee Fund.

The State User Fee Funds. IC 33-37-9 establishes the state user fee fund under the Treasurer of State. Section 3 provides that twice a year (6/30 and 12/31) the Auditor shall transfer to the Treasurer for deposit in the User Fee Fund the court fees collected.

Then, purusant to section 4(a), the Treasurer is to semiannually distribute $1,288,000 of the total in the User Fee Fund to be split among a number of listed funds.

Under section 4(b), the remaining balance is to be distributed to the Judicial Technology and Automation Project fund established by IC 33-24-6-12.

The Judicial Technology and Automation Project Fund. This fund was created by PL 183-2001 and is codified at IC 33-24-6-12. It reads:

(a) The judicial technology and automation project fund is established to fund the judicial technology and automation project. The division of state court administration shall administer the fund. The fund consists of the following:
(1) Deposits made under IC 33-37-9-4.
(2) Other appropriations made by the general assembly.
(3) Grants and gifts designated for the fund or the judicial technology and automation project.
(b) The treasurer of state shall invest the money in the fund not currently needed to meet the obligations of the fund in the same manner as other public funds may be invested.

(c) Money in the fund at the end of a state fiscal year does not revert to the state general fund.

(d) There is annually appropriated to the division of state court administration the money in the fund for the judicial technology and automation project.

There are several things notable about this language; they are found in subsections (c) and (d).

This is a "nonreverting" fund -- "Money in the fund at the end of a state fiscal year does not revert to the state general fund."

The General Assembly has placed the appropriating language into the law itself, making it a "permanent" recurring appropriation, eliminating the necessity for inclusion of an appropriation in the biennial budget bills.

The State User Fee Fund [Acct. No. 6000-163100].

Finally, some actual figures. This Fund's revenue for FY 2004 was $9,219,381.
FY 2004 runs from July 1, 2003 to June 30, 2004. The Treasurer would distribute (disburse) the accumulated balance on Dec. 31, 2003 and June 30th, 2004. Disbursements:

FY 2004: On Dec. 31, 2003 -- $3,847,636 (for the 1st 6 months of FY 2004)
FY 2004: On June 30, 2004 -- $8,857,671 (for all of FY 2004)
Total revenue received: $9,219,381 (meaning the disbursements were about 96% of the revenue for FY 2004)
JTAC would receive $8,857,671 less 2 x the $1,288,000 = $6,281,671 for FY 2004)

FY 2005: On Dec. 31, 2004 -- $4,209,346 disbursed (JTAC would receive $4,209,346 less the $1,288,000 = $2,921,346 for the first 6 months of FY 2005)
FY 2005: On June 30, 2005 [not yet available]

What does all this mean? If I understand this correctly, the revenues coming into the State User Fee Fund, which includes both (1) the Automated Record Keeping Fee (which I guessed, via rough arithmetic, to total about $11.4 million/year earlier in this entry); plus (2) a number of other fees, actually totalled only about $9.2 million in the first year of the program. JTAC received $6.3 million of this, and may receive approximately the same amount for the next 5 years (June 30, 2003 to July 1, 2009). Thereafter, under IC 33-37-5-21, the Automated Record Keeping Fee goes down from $7 to $4.

[As of 4:00 pm I've made minor revisions to the above figures. Any further comments, corrections, or additional information will be appreciated.]

Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 22, 2005 12:00 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts