The 1st meeting of the Budget Review Subcommittee on Justice, Corrections, and Judiciary of the Interim Joint Committee on Appropriations and Revenue was held on Thursday, January 25, 2001, at 11:00 AM, in Room 129 of the Capitol Annex. Representative Jesse Crenshaw, Chair, called the meeting to order, and the secretary called the roll.
Present were:
Members: Senator Jack Westwood, Co-Chair; Representative Jesse Crenshaw, Co-Chair; Senators Dale Shrout, and Robert Stivers; Representatives Dwight Butler, Thomas McKee, Arnold Simpson, Robin L. Webb, and Brent Yonts.
Guests: Cicely Lambert, Director of the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC); Herb Bowling, Ken Schwendeman, Shannon Sanders and John Bizzack Department of Criminal Justice Training; Karen Quinn, Amanda Thompson, David Garr, Ishmon Burks, Linda Smith and Mike Hulett, Justice Cabinet; Judy Campbell, Department of Public Advocacy; and Pat Delahanty, Catholic Conference
LRC Staff: Steve Mason, Kim Wilson, Jerry Bailey, Karen Crabtree, Wanda Meeks, Jenny Urie, Bettina Abshire, and Carol Coleman.
Cicely Lambert, Director, Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), gave an overview of the current Judicial Branch Budget. Representative Yonts inquired about the reason for the increases in caseloads. He noted there are sometimes competing case filings in district and circuit court. He asked Ms. Lambert to look at the issue of narrowing the opportunity for filings to one court or the other, but not both.
Representative Yonts also inquired if AOC is planning to pursue Family Courts next session as a Constitutional Amendment. Representative Yonts asked if AOC did any follow-up review to determine if the leasing of court facilities has been cost effective. Ms. Lambert stated that AOC’s Property Management Guide has four sections, and two have already been implemented. The fourth section is the facilities management section, which will address those issues.
Representative Webb asked Ms. Lambert for information showing a breakdown of District and Circuit Court caseloads. Representative Webb also inquired about the timeframe for the beginning of the electronic pretrial interview process. Ms. Lambert stated that AOC is hopeful of having that in place this year.
Senator Shrout asked Ms. Lambert to address the testing process for Circuit Clerks. Ms. Lambert stated that the Supreme Court has asked her agency to look into the Circuit Court Clerk testing process and that they are currently in the middle of that report. They will be presenting recommendations to the Supreme Court to try to alleviate the problems of the past.
Chairman Crenshaw asked for a list of the counties where the nine juvenile drug courts would be located. He also asked to be kept informed concerning the Senior Judges Program.
David Garr, Principal Assistant to the Secretary of the Justice Cabinet, and the Commissioners from each department presented brief summaries regarding the status of their FB 2000-2002 budgets. Presenters were: from the Kentucky State Police, Ishmon Burks, Commissioner; Linda Smith, Deputy Commissioner, and Mike Hulett, Financial Management Officer. The request for an interim appropriation increase for the Kentucky State Police was discussed (Serial No. 1284). Commissioner Burks gave an update on the authorization of additional troopers. The Commissioner was asked to look into the constitutionality of different standards for men versus women in regard to qualifying as a candidate for trooper.
Motion was made by Representative Yonts and seconded by Representative Webb to recommend to the Interim Joint Committee on Appropriations and Revenue that the request for an interim appropriation increase for the Kentucky State Police be approved. The motion was approved without objection.
Commissioner Tom Campbell, Department of Corrections, introduced members of his staff, Ken Dressman, Principal Assistant; Mary Arnett, Fiscal Branch Manager; Vert Taylor, Deputy Commissioner for Community Services; Bill Whitney, Deputy Commissioner, Adult Institutions; and Phil Webb, Director of Operations, Adult Institutions. Ms. Arnett addressed the Committee regarding the interim appropriation increase request (Serial No. 1234) involving Federal Funds to support the Criminal History Records Improvement Project.
Motion was made by Representative Yonts and seconded by Representative McKee to recommend to the Interim Joint Committee on Appropriations and Revenue that the request for an interim appropriation increase for the Department of Corrections be approved. The motion was approved without objection.
Ron Bishop, Deputy Commissioner, Support Services, and Mike Mullins, Director, Administrative Services, Department of Juvenile Justice, made a presentation of the current fiscal year budget status and the status of various capital projects. Representative Webb asked to be kept informed concerning private childcare contracts and the monitoring and accountability of those facilities, including improvement in contract language.
Representative Yonts requested that the Owensboro facility not be decommissioned and that he be kept posted on that situation.
Chairman Crenshaw asked that he be kept posted on the Fayette County facility as it progresses.
John Bizzack, Commissioner, Department of Criminal Justice Training, introduced Ken Swinderman, Director of Administrative Division and Chief Fiscal Officer; and Herb Bowling, Director of Training. They presented a brief organizational and fiscal overview of the Department since the last session.
Mr. Garr gave an overview of the Justice Administration budget unit. He also presented an overview of some projects underway in the Medical Examiner’s Office and current activities of the Criminal Justice Council.
Mr. Garr introduced Judge John Coy, Chairman, State Parole Board, who gave an overview of the Board.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 12:35 p.m.