Brief (1)
HB 2297, as amended, would expand the Kansas Court of Appeals from 10 to 14 members, by adding one judge per year beginning July 1, 2003.
Background
Increasing the size of the Court from 10 to 14 judges was recommended in 1999 by the Kansas Citizens Justice Initiative. In its FY 2002 budget request, the Judicial Branch requested funds to begin the expansion by adding one new judge in FY 2002. Testifying in favor of HB 2297 were representatives of the Kansas Bar Association and the Kansas Trial Lawyers Association. A former chief judge of the Court of Appeals and the current chief judge of the Court of Appeals also appeared in support of the bill.
As introduced, expansion of the Court would have begun July 1, 2001. The House Committee of the Whole amended the bill to begin the expansion on July 1, 2002, and the Senate Ways and Means Committee amended the bill to delay the beginning of the expansion to July 1, 2003.
The first-year fiscal impact of the bill, as introduced, was estimated to be $374,886. That amount consists of $219,165 for the salary and benefits for one judge and 2.0 FTE associated staff positions (an administrative assistant and a research attorney); $9,100 for operating expenditures; and $146,621 for one-time capital outlay expenditures and the cost to renovate space vacated by the Attorney General's Office. The total cost of the bill over the four-year-implementation period is estimated to be $1,499,544.
1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/fulltext.cgi