ADD'L JUDGESHIPS                                                                  S.B. 694 (S-2):

                                                                                         SUMMARY OF BILL

                                                                         REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Senate Bill 694 (Substitute S-2 as reported)

Sponsor:  Senator Jon Bumstead

Committee:  Judiciary and Public Safety

 

CONTENT

 

The bill would amend Chapter 5 (Circuit Courts: Organization and Powers) of the Revised Judicature Act to do the following:

 

 --   Allows the 3rd Judicial Circuit, which consists of Wayne County, to have one additional judge effective January 1, 2023.

 --   Delete a provision eliminating a judgeship through attrition in the 10th Judicial Circuit (Saginaw County).

 --   Allow the 14th Judicial Circuit, which consists of Muskegon County, to have one additional judge effective January 1, 2023, and specify that the initial term of office of the judgeship would be eight years.

 --   Increase, from three to four, the number of judgeships in the 20th Judicial Circuit, which consists of Ottawa County.

 --   Allow the 20th Judicial Circuit to have one additional judge effective January 1, 2023, and specify that the initial term of office of the judgeship would be eight years.

 

MCL 600.504 et al.                                    Legislative Analyst:  Stephen Jackson

 

FISCAL IMPACT

 

The bill would add a circuit judgeship to the 20th Judicial Circuit in Ottawa County, a circuit judgeship to the 14th Judicial Circuit in Muskegon County, and a circuit judgeship to the 3rd Judicial Circuit in Wayne County, and it would eliminate a sunset provision that will remove a judgeship in the 10th Judicial Circuit in Saginaw County. All of these additions were included in the 2019 Judicial Resources Recommendation.

 

Costs for a judgeship are shared by the State and the local county government in which the judge sits. The State covers salary and retirement costs, while the local government covers the cost of additional benefits, personnel costs, supplies, equipment, office space, etc. At $182,500 per judgeship, State spending on circuit judges would increase by slightly less than 2.0% annually, if three circuit judges were added to the statewide system and a fourth were not removed. The total costs to the counties in which these judgeships would be seated are not known.

 

Date Completed:  11-5-21                                 Fiscal Analyst:  Michael Siracuse

 

 

 

This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.