Bill > SB0694

This bill, which amends the Revised Judicature Act of 1961, primarily shifts the deadline for local government approval of new judgeships and the filing of related resolutions from the sixteenth Tuesday before the August primary election to the one hundred fifty-first day before the May primary election, meaning the deadline is now earlier in the year and tied to a May primary instead of an August one. This change affects the creation and filling of additional circuit, probate, and district judgeships, requiring local governing bodies to approve these positions and file resolutions with the state court administrator by this new deadline for them to be authorized for election. The bill also clarifies that the legislature is not creating these judgeships but rather permitting their creation, with local approval being a voluntary acceptance of associated costs, and it maintains the state's obligation to pay a portion of judges' salaries and necessary state-mandated costs. Additionally, the bill specifies that certain previously enacted judicial circuit and district reforms do not require this local approval process.