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

SPONSOR Rawson

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/30/06

HB

SHORT TITLE Additional 3

rd

District Judgeship

SB 329

ANALYST McSherry

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

$283.2

Recurring

General Fund

$31.4

Non-Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Senate Bill 329 relates to House Bill 35, “Additional Judgeships in the 5

th

District;” House Bill

61 “Additional Judge in the 13

th

District;” House Bill 337 “Create Additional Judgeships,” and

Senate Bill 102, “Additional Judges in the 5

th

Judicial District.”

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 329, “Additional 3

rd

District Judgeship” appropriates $811,043 from the general fund

to 3

rd

Judicial District Court for the purpose of funding a new judgeship by increasing the num-

ber of judges from seven to eight.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $313,566 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2007 shall revert

to the general fund.

Of the $313.6 thousand the courts have identified $283.2 which should be considered recurring.

The remaining funds are for the judge’s chamber and staff furniture and other one time expenses.

Senate Bill 329 – Page 2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The judge caseload study used to determine judgeship need of the New Mexico judicial districts

was completed in 1997. The relative caseloads have been updated since 1997; the case-weights

have not.

According to AOC, the study was expanded and updated in 1998 to provide the legislature with a

methodology for determining the needs for additional judgeships, the “weighted caseload study”

which assigns a weight, expressed in minutes, for each type of case heard in court. The weight

represents the average amount of a judge’s time necessary to process a case of that type.

The third district is ranked fifth after the 5

th

, 9

th

, second 5

th

, and 13

th

judicial districts as ranked

using the 1997 caseload study with updated caseloads. The district is included in the judiciary’s

requested judgeships in the unified budget.

A new judgeship includes the funding for three staff, including a trial court administrative assis-

tant, a bailiff and funds for furniture equipment and supplies.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

Additional judgeships would reduce the caseload for each judge and could result in more time

dedicated to each case, resulting in an increased performance results for “cases disposed as a

percent of cases filed,” “clearance rate” and “percent change in case filings by case type”

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

Additional judges, and their associated 3 staff would increase the administrative workload in the

3

rd

judicial district.

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

Senate Bill 329 relates to: House Bill 35, “Additional Judgeships in the 5

th

District;” House Bill

61 “Additional Judge in the 13

th

District;” House Bill 337 “Create Additional Judgeships,” and

Senate Bill 102, “Additional Judges in the 5

th

Judicial District.”

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

The 3

rd

Judicial District would maintain authority for seven judges rather than eight.

EM/nt:yr