NOTE:  As provided in LFC policy, this report is intended only for use by the standing finance committees of the legislature.  The Legislative Finance Committee does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of the information in this report when used for other purposes.

 

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F I S C A L   I M P A C T   R E P O R T

 

 

 

SPONSOR:

Park

 

DATE TYPED:

2/13/03

 

HB

47a/HJC

 

SHORT TITLE:

Law Clerk for 2nd Judicial District

 

SB

 

 

 

ANALYST:

Hayes

 

APPROPRIATION

 

Appropriation Contained

Estimated Additional Impact

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY03

FY04

FY03

FY04

 

 

 

$110.0

 

 

Recurring

General Fund

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

 

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

 

Responses Received From

 

Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC)

LFC files

 

SUMMARY

 

     Synopsis of HJC Amendment

 

The House Judiciary Committee is striking the term “law clerk” where referenced in the bill and is replacing it with “staff attorney”  in order to clarify that the position and funding requested in HB 47 is for an attorney, not a law clerk.

 

     Synopsis of Original Bill

 

House Bill 47 appropriates $110,000 from the general fund to the Second Judicial District Court for the purpose of creating and funding a full-time law clerk position in the court’s civil division.

 

     Significant Issues

 

  1. The amount being requested to fund a law clerk FTE, $110.0, seems higher than necessary according to the judiciary’s salary scale, including benefits.  It is unclear whether the appropriation includes operating expenses.

  

  1. This law clerk position was not among the seven base expansions requested by the 2nd Judicial District Court in its FY04 budget submission to the LFC.  Nor was this position included in the Judicial Unified Budget document which approves all judiciary budgets requests before submission.

 

  1. Caseload information per attorney would be helpful in analyzing the need for this position or the number of law clerks per division.   No performance data was provided, however, except that approximately 45 percent of the cases filed at the 2nd district are civil actions.

 

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

 

The appropriation of $110.0 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund.  Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2004 shall revert to the general fund.

 

POSSIBLE QUESTIONS

 

  1. Why is this position being requested?  Why was it not included in the court’s FY04 budget submission?

 

  1. If the civil division has a backlog, has the court looked for alternative help such as hiring a UNM law student or establishing an internship for law students? 

 

  1. Is a new judgeship needed instead?

  

CMH/yr