HOUSE AMENDED
PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 1221 PRINTER'S NO. 1441
No. 977 Session of 2001
INTRODUCED BY BRIGHTBILL, GREENLEAF, ERICKSON, HELFRICK,
D. WHITE, MOWERY, PUNT, ROBBINS, BELL, WENGER, LEMMOND,
THOMPSON, MADIGAN, RHOADES AND GERLACH, JUNE 18, 2001
AS REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES, AS AMENDED, OCTOBER 16, 2001
AN ACT
1 Amending Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the
2 Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, providing for senior
3 judge operational support grants.
4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 hereby enacts as follows:
6 Section 1. Title 42 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated
7 Statutes is amended by adding a section to read:
8 § 1906. Senior judge operational support grants.
9 (a) Program.--The Court Administrator of Pennsylvania shall
10 create a program to defray the costs imposed on counties by the
11 rules of judicial administration for facilities and staff for
12 senior judges assigned to the courts of common pleas.
13 (b) Availability.--Grants will be made available to counties
14 based on the level of operational support provided by a county
15 to:
16 (1) Senior judges formerly of the judicial district in
1 which the county is situated who are regularly or
2 periodically assigned in that county or who are assigned
3 pursuant to section 4544 (relating to convening multicounty
4 investigating grand jury).
5 (2) Visiting senior judges.
6 (c) Purpose.--Grants will be made available to counties to
7 reimburse them for operational support provided by the county
8 during the preceding calendar year. Grants will be calculated
9 based on use of judicial chambers, utilization of the services
10 of a law clerk and utilization of the services of a secretary
11 which chambers or services is deemed adequate and appropriate by
12 the Administrative Office as follows:
13 (1) Use of judicial chambers will be reimbursed at the
14 rate of $60 per day, billable in one-half day increments.
15 (2) Utilization of services of a law clerk will be
16 reimbursed at $20 per hour.
17 (3) Utilization of services of a secretary will be
18 reimbursed at $12 per hour.
19 (4) The rates of reimbursement set forth in this <--
20 subsection may be adjusted by the Court Administrator of
21 Pennsylvania for fiscal years beginning on July 1, 2004, and
22 thereafter.
23 (d) Reimbursement.--Counties will be reimbursed upon timely
24 application by the board of commissioners or, in the absence of
25 a board of commissioners, the executive authority of the county
26 or, in the case of a county which is coterminous with a city of
27 the first class, the mayor of the city of the first class. The
28 application shall be certified by the president judge of the
29 judicial district in which the county is situated, shall include
30 such documentation as may be required by the Administrative
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1 Office and shall be submitted as follows:
2 (1) Applications for reimbursement for operational
3 support provided by counties during calendar 2001 shall be
4 submitted by April 1, 2002 and grants shall be paid by June
5 30, 2002.
6 (2) The due dates for applications for operational
7 support provided during calendar years beginning January 1,
8 2002 and thereafter shall be established by the Court
9 Administrator of Pennsylvania.
10 (e) Minimum standards.--The Administrative Office shall set
11 forth minimum standards regarding adequacy, appropriateness and
12 quality of judicial chambers and services required to qualify
13 for reimbursement.
14 (f) Reduction.--In the event that the total reimbursement
15 qualifying for payment for any calendar year exceeds the amount
16 appropriated by the General Assembly for such purpose, the Court
17 Administrator of Pennsylvania shall proportionally reduce the
18 grant for each county so that the total of all grants does not
19 exceed the amount appropriated.
20 (g) Limit on grant amount.--No county shall receive more
21 than 20% of the amount appropriated for senior judge operational
22 support grants in any fiscal year.
23 (h) Report.--Not later than 60 days following payment of
24 grants for any year, the Court Administrator of Pennsylvania
25 shall make a report to the Appropriations Committee of the
26 Senate and the Appropriations Committee of the House of
27 Representatives setting forth the payments made to counties and
28 the services provided.
29 (i) Expiration.--This section shall expire on June 30, 2007,
30 unless reenacted prior to that date.
20010S0977B1441 - 3 -
1 Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
F5L42JAM/20010S0977B1441 - 4 -