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UNOFFICIAL COPY 26 RS BR 1371
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AN ACT making appropriations for the operations, maintenance, support, and 1
functioning of the Judicial Branch of the government of the Commonwealth of Kentucky 2
and its various officers, boards, commissions, subdivisions, and other state -supported 3
activities. 4
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 5
Section 1. The Judicial Branch Budget is as follows: 6
PART I 7
OPERATING BUDGET 8
(1) Funds Appropriations: There is appropriated out of the General Fund, 9
Restricted Funds accounts, or Federal Funds accounts for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 10
2025, and ending June 30, 2026, and for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026, and 11
ending June 30, 2027, and for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2027, and ending June 30, 12
2028, the following sums to be used for the purposes of the Judicial Branch of the 13
government of the Com monwealth of Kentucky, including the Supreme Court, Court of 14
Appeals, Circuit Court, Family Court, District Court, the Administrative Office of the 15
Courts, Judicial Retirement, Local Facilities Fund, Local Facilities Use Allowance 16
Contingency Fund, and for services performed by the Circuit Court Clerks' offices, 17
including both Circuit and District Court support. 18
A. JUDICIAL BRANCH 19
Budget Units 20
1. COURT OF JUSTICE 21
a. Court Operations and Administration 22
2026-27 2027-28 23
General Fund 406,082,200 411,796,400 24
Restricted Funds 61,311,000 61,848,600 25
Federal Funds 1,706,300 1,524,900 26
TOTAL 469,099,500 475,169,900 27
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(1) Defined Calculations: Included in the above General Fund appropriation is 1
$4,775,600 in fiscal year 2026 -2027 and $8,571,500 in fiscal year 2027 -2028 to provide 2
funds for the increase in the employer cost of health and life insurance. 3
(2) Annual Increment: Included in the above General Fund appropriation is 4
$2,367,000 in fiscal year 2026 -2027 and $4,757,700 in fisca l year 2027 -2028 for a one 5
percent annual increment in each year of the biennium for elected and non -elected 6
personnel. 7
(3) Full Funding of Current Services: Included in the above General Fund 8
appropriation is $13,541,000 in fiscal year 2026 -2027 and $13,5 41,000 in fiscal year 9
2027-2028 to fully fund current services in this appropriation unit. 10
(4) Compensation Plan: Included in the above General Fund appropriation is 11
$37,050,300 in fiscal year 2026 -2027 and $37,050,300 in fiscal year 2027 -2028 to 12
increase compensation in the Judicial Branch for eligible employees and elected and non -13
elected personnel at the discretion of the Chief Justice. 14
Any increase in creditable compensation resulting from the pay raises provided by 15
this subsection shall be exempt from reduction under KRS 61.598, and the pay raises 16
shall be fully used to determine the member’s creditable compensation, final 17
compensation, and resulting retirement benefits, regardless of the member’s actual 18
retirement date or the system from which the member retires. 19
(5) Funds Required to Maintain Mandated Services: Included in the above 20
General Fund appropriation is $8,780,200 in fiscal year 2026 -2027 and $8,418,500 in 21
fiscal year 2027-2028 to maintain mandated services. 22
(6) Replacement of Restricted Funds : Included in the above General Fund 23
appropriation is $7,945,200 in fiscal year 2026 -2027 and $7,945,200 in fiscal year 2027 -24
2028 to move all deputy clerks funded out of master commissioner excess fees to the 25
General Fund. 26
(7) AED/Medical Kits: Included in the above General Fund appropriation is 27
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$1,562,000 in fiscal year 2026 -2027 and $1,562,000 in fiscal year 2027 -2028 to provide 1
AED and Medical Kits in court-occupied facilities. 2
(8) Additional positions - Administrative Office of the Courts: Included in the 3
above General Fund appropriation is $1,084,600 in fiscal year 2026 -2027 and $1,038,900 4
in fiscal year 2027 -2028 for 12 additional positions for the Administrative Office of the 5
Courts. 6
(9) Additional positions - Deputy Clerks: Included in the above Gene ral Fund 7
appropriation is $1,258,800 in fiscal year 2026 -2027 and $1,193,800 in fiscal year 2027 -8
2028 for 17 additional deputy clerk positions. 9
(10) Civil Filing Fees: Pursuant to its authority, if the Supreme Court retains the 10
increases in civil filing fe es that were effective in 2008 and 2018, the additional income 11
resulting from the fee increases, not to exceed $15,468,100 in each fiscal year, shall be 12
deposited into a trust and agency account for court operations and salaries for non-elected 13
personnel. Any revenue generated by these increases in excess of the $15,468,100 in each 14
fiscal year shall be deposited into the General Fund. 15
b. Local Facilities Fund 16
2025-26 2026-27 2027-28 17
General Fund 8,910,400 156,279,000 162,867,800 18
(1) Uninsured Costs Due to Flooding: Included in the above General Fund 19
appropriation is $8,910,400 in fiscal year 2025 -2026 for file restoration, remediation, and 20
repairs due to flooding in Franklin and Hardin Counties. 21
(2) Local Facility Projects: Included in the above Gen eral Fund appropriation is 22
$13,652,200 in fiscal year 2027 -2028 to support the use allowance for five judicial 23
centers authorized by the 2024 General Assembly. 24
(3) Full Funding of Current Services: Included in the above General Fund 25
appropriation is $2,628,100 in fiscal year 2026 -2027 and $2,628,100 in fiscal year 2027 -26
2028 to fully fund current services. 27
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(4) Operating Paid to Counties: Included in the above General Fund 1
appropriation is $2,076,100 in fiscal year 2026 -2027 and $4,276,700 in fiscal year 2027 -2
2028 for inflationary increase on operating expenses paid to counties. 3
(5) Insurance on Building Contents: Included in the above General Fund 4
appropriation is $448,500 in fiscal year 2026-2027 and $448,500 in fiscal year 2027-2028 5
to purchase insurance to cover remediation and restoration of paper court records in each 6
court facility. 7
(6) Boyle County Temporary Space and Fit -up: Included in the above General 8
Fund appropriation is $5,260,000 in fiscal year 2026 -2027 and $260,000 in fiscal year 9
2027-2028 for leased space and fit-up for all court and clerk functions. 10
(7) Bell County Temporary Space and Fit -up: Included in the above General 11
Fund appropriation is $3,120,000 in fiscal year 2026 -2027 and $120,000 in fiscal year 12
2027-2028 for leased space and fit-up for all court and clerk functions. 13
(8) Bell County Use Allowance and Equipment: Included in the above General 14
Fund appropriation is $2,806,100 in fiscal year 2026 -2027 to support use allowance and 15
equipment and $2,056,100 in fiscal year 2027-2028 to support use allowance. 16
(9) Indirect Rate Paid to Counties: Included in the above General Fund 17
appropriation is $5,501,600 in fiscal year 2026 -2027 and $5,831,600 in fiscal year 2027 -18
2028 to compensate counties for operating and maintaining court facilities. 19
(10) Jefferson County Offsite Archive: Included in the above General Fund 20
appropriation is $994,000 in fiscal year 2026-2027 and $150,000 in fiscal year 2027-2028 21
for leased space and a storage system for archiving boxes. 22
(11) Local Court Facility Compensation: Included in the above General Fund 23
appropriation are moneys to compensate local units of government for providing court 24
space and for costs incurred in the development of local court facilities as defined in KRS 25
Chapter 26A and provided in Part II of this Act and to perform all other acts required or 26
authorized by KRS Chapter 26A. 27
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(12) Use Allowance Pay ments to Counties: Pursuant to KRS 26A.090(2), 1
beginning with court facility construction or renovation projects authorized by the 2000 2
Regular Session of the General Assembly and all subsequent court facility projects, use 3
allowance payments are restricted to the court's proportional share of the annual principal 4
and interest costs in connection with the construction or renovation of the facility, not to 5
exceed the authorized annual use allowance. 6
(13) Court Facility Maintenance Fund: (a) Notwithstanding K RS 7
26A.090(2), when there is no debt on court facility construction or renovation projects 8
authorized prior to the 2000 Regular Session of the General Assembly, use allowance is 9
restricted to compensation equal to two percent annually of capital costs to b e paid to the 10
county unit of government and two percent annually to be retained by the Administrative 11
Office of the Courts and directed to a separate fund specifically for maintenance of court 12
facilities. 13
(b) The fund created pursuant to paragraph (a) of t his subsection shall be used for 14
routine, ongoing, planned, and unanticipated maintenance for court facilities. 15
(c) Notwithstanding KRS 45.750, any maintenance project estimated to cost 16
$3,000,000 or less for a local court facility is not considered to be a capital project 17
requiring authorization of the General Assembly in the Judicial Branch budget bill and 18
may be completed using funds appropriated to the Judicial Branch for maintenance of 19
local facilities or other agency funds of the Judicial Branch. 20
c. Local Facilities Use Allowance Contingency Fund 21
(1) Funds Carry Forward: Notwithstanding KRS 45.229, any unexpended 22
balance remaining at the close of fiscal year 2025 -2026 shall not lapse and shall continue 23
into fiscal year 2026 -2027, and any unexpended ba lance remaining at the close of fiscal 24
year 2026-2027 shall not lapse and shall continue into fiscal year 2027 -2028 to provide 25
for cost overruns in authorized court facilities projects not to exceed 15 percent of the use 26
allowance in accordance with KRS Chapter 26A. 27
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TOTAL – COURT OF JUSTICE 1
2025-26 2026-27 2027-28 2
General Fund 8,910,400 562,361,200 577,664,200 3
Restricted Funds -0- 61,311,000 61,848,600 4
Federal Funds -0- 1,706,300 1,524,900 5
TOTAL 8,910,400 625,378,500 638,037,700 6
2. JUDICIAL RETIREMENT SYSTEM 7
2026-27 2027-28 8
Restricted Funds 643,000 647,300 9
TOTAL 643,000 647,300 10
(1) Administrative Expenses: Pursuant to KRS 21.540, administrative expenses 11
shall be paid out of an administrative account which shall be funded by transf ers of the 12
necessary moneys, in appropriate ratio, from the funds described in KRS 21.550 and 13
21.560. 14
(2) Pension Benefit Increase: Notwithstanding KRS 21.405(5), no pension 15
benefit increase shall be granted to recipients of a retirement allowance under K RS 16
21.345 to 21.580 on July 1, 2026, or July 1, 2027. 17
TOTAL - JUDICIAL BRANCH 18
2025-26 2026-27 2027-28 19
General Fund 8,910,400 562,361,700 574,664,200 20
Restricted Funds -0- 61,954,000 62,495,900 21
Federal Funds -0- 1,706,300 1,524,900 22
TOTAL 8,910,400 626,021,500 638,685,000 23
PART II 24
CAPITAL PROJECTS BUDGET 25
(1) Authorization of Capital Projects: It is the intent of the General Assembly 26
that any capital project proposed by any state government entity, including the agencies 27
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and subdivisions of t he Court of Justice, shall be authorized by the General Assembly 1
prior to the project’s financing and construction, in accordance with KRS 7A.010, 2
7A.120, 45.750, 45.760, 45.763, 45.765, and 48.110. Pursuant to KRS 45.760(1), the 3
amount allotted, from all sources, for expenditure on any capital project, including leases 4
as defined by KRS 45.750, shall not exceed the estimated cost as shown in this Act. 5
(2) Capital Projects and Bond Oversight Committee: Capital construction 6
projects and major items of equipm ent that are not specifically listed in this Act may be 7
authorized only after submission of the project to the Capital Projects and Bond 8
Oversight Committee and in accordance with the other requirements of KRS 45.760(7). 9
Moneys may be transferred to the al lotment account of any capital project only after 10
submission of the project to the Capital Projects and Bond Oversight Committee and in 11
accordance with the other requirements of KRS 45.760(6). As required by KRS 45.760, 12
all capital construction items autho rized in this Act shall be constructed in accordance 13
with this Act, supporting documentation considered by the General Assembly, and 14
Judicial Branch budget records. Any modifications to the scope of a capital construction 15
project or to a lease shall be rep orted to the Capital Projects and Bond Oversight 16
Committee before execution. 17
(3) Deferred Funding: (a) General Fund support to provide operating costs 18
of $1,911,000 and $3,000,000 for nonrecurring equipment and furniture for five projects 19
authorized by the 2024 General Assembly is deferred to the 2028-2030 fiscal biennium. 20
(b) General Fund support to provide operating costs totaling $301,200 and 21
annualized use allowance totaling $3,231,000 and $750,000 for nonrecurring equipment 22
and furniture costs for the Spencer County project is deferred to the 2028 -2030 fiscal 23
biennium. 24
(c) General Fund support to provide operating costs totaling $444,000 and 25
annualized use allowance totaling $4,734,000 and $1,000,000 for nonrecurring 26
equipment and furniture costs for th e Boyle County project is deferred to the 2028 -2030 27
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fiscal biennium. 1
(d) It is the intent of the General Assembly that the projects in paragraphs (a), (b), 2
and (c) of this subsection shall be funded using resources previously appropriated for 3
projects that no longer require use allowance debt payments in the 2028 -2030 fiscal 4
biennium. 5
(4) Local Facilities Use Allowance Contingency Fund: For any court facility 6
project which is occupied and use allowance funding is insufficient, the use allowance 7
payments shall be approved from the Local Facilities Use Allowance Contingency Fund. 8
If funds are not available in the Local Facilities Use Allowance Contingency Fund, the 9
Chief Justice may transfer funds from other Judicial Branch accounts in accordance with 10
Part III, General Provisions, Section 7. of this Act to make the necessary payments. 11
A. JUDICIAL BRANCH 12
Budget Units 13
1. LOCAL FACILITIES FUND 2026-27 2027-28 14
Project 15
001. Spencer County (Project Scope: $33,661,000) 16
002. Boyle County (Project Scope: $49,236,000) 17
003. Bell County - Renovation (Project Scope: $20,910,000) 18
004. Maintenance Pool - Renovations $41,800,000 -0- 19
005. Maintenance Pool - Security $3,000,000 -0- 20
2. LEASE AUTHORIZATIONS 21
001. Jefferson County - Lease - Parking 22
PART III 23
GENERAL PROVISIONS 24
1. Expenditure Authority: The Director of the Administrative Office of the 25
Courts, with the approval of the Chief Justice, may expend any of the funds appropriated 26
for court operations and administration in any lawful manner and for any legal purpose 27
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that the Chief Justice shall authorize or direct. No executive agency of state government 1
shall have the power to restrict or limit the expenditure of funds appropriated to the 2
Judicial Branch of government. 3
2. Severability of Budget Provisions: Appropriation items and sums in this Act 4
conform to KRS 48.311. If any section, any subsection, or any provision thereof shall be 5
invalid or unconstitutional, the decision of the courts shall not affect or impair any of the 6
remaining sections, subsections, or provisions. 7
3. Duplicate Appropriations: Any appropriation item and sum in this Act and 8
in an appropriation provision in another Act of the 2026 Regular Session of the General 9
Assembly which constitutes a duplicate appropriation shall be governed by KRS 48.312. 10
4. Priority of Individual Appropriations: KRS 48.313 shall control when a 11
total or subtotal figure in this Act conflicts with the sum of the appropriations of which it 12
consists. 13
5. Carry Forward of Funds: Notwithstanding KRS 45.229, any unexpended 14
balance remaining at the close of the fiscal years ending June 30, 2026, June 30, 2027, 15
and June 30, 2028, shall not lapse and shall continue into the next fiscal year. 16
6. Final Budget Document: The Director of th e Administrative Office of the 17
Courts shall prepare a final budget document reflecting the 2026 -2028 biennial budget of 18
the Court of Justice. A copy shall be provided to the Legislative Research Commission, 19
and an informational copy shall be furnished to t he Finance and Administration Cabinet, 20
within 60 days of the adjournment of the 2026 Regular Session of the General Assembly. 21
7. Transferability of Funds: The Chief Justice of the Commonwealth of 22
Kentucky shall have the ability to transfer funds to other p rograms and budget units 23
within the Judicial Branch. Any funds transferred to other budget units within the Judicial 24
Branch may be used to support any activity, program, or operation of the budget unit or 25
program receiving the respective funds. 26
8. Appropriations Revisions: Proposed revisions to General Fund, Restricted 27
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Funds, and Federal Funds appropriations in this Act shall be made and reported to the 1
Interim Joint Committee on Appropriations and Revenue pursuant to KRS 48.630(10). 2
The Director of the Administrative Office of the Courts shall notify, on a timely basis, the 3
Legislative Research Commission of the most current estimates of anticipated receipts for 4
the affected fiscal year and an accompanying statement which explains variations from 5
the anticipated amount. 6
9. Maximum Salary of Trial Commissioners: Pursuant to KRS 24A.100(3), 7
no trial commissioner shall be compensated at a rate greater than $7,200. No funding is 8
provided for trial commissioners commissioned in counties with a residing District Judge. 9
10. Debt Restructuring: Notwithstanding any other provision of the Kentucky 10
Revised Statutes, use allowance payments shall not be amended to reflect debt 11
restructuring transactions undertaken by a county during the 2026-2028 fiscal biennium. 12
11. Court Facility Maintenance Fund Report: For each of the periods ending 13
June 30, 2026, June 30, 2027, and June 30, 2028, the Director of the Administrative 14
Office of the Courts shall prepare a court facility maintenance report. This report shall 15
detail all cou rt facility maintenance undertaken by the Court of Justice, to include any 16
cost-sharing with counties, as well as detail regarding future maintenance needs. This 17
report shall include a statewide expenditure summary followed by individual county 18
expenditures detailing the state's and county's respective share of expenditures. The 19
Administrative Office of the Courts shall provide this report to the Interim Joint 20
Committee on Appropriations and Revenue by September 15 of each fiscal year. 21
12. Court of Justice Reserve Account: Notwithstanding KRS 27A.055(4), 22
expenditures may be made effective immediately from the Court of Justice Reserve 23
Account at the discretion of the Chief Justice. 24
PART IV 25
BUDGET REDUCTION OR SURPLUS EXPENDITURE PLAN 26
The Judicial Branch shall participate in any Budget Reduction Plan or Surplus 27
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Expenditure Plan in accordance with KRS Chapter 48, except that obligations essential to 1
the constitutional duties and use allowance of the Judicial Branch shall be exempt from 2
any Budget Reduction Plan. The level of participation in a Budget Reduction Plan shall 3
be at the discretion of the Chief Justice and shall not exceed the actual percentage of 4
revenue shortfall. 5