Bill abolishing court positions passes Senate
Sen. Liz Brown, R-Fort Wayne, speaks on a bill on April 15, 2025. (Whitney Downard/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
Eleven mostly rural counties will lose judges under a bill passed 33-16 by the Indiana Senate Tuesday.
House Bill 1144 — which adds judges and magistrates in Elkhart, Hamilton, Lawrence and Vigo counties — has moved through the entire session without language abolishing courts.
Then, on April 10, hours before a committee deadline, an amendment was added in the Senate Appropriations Committee eliminating one court each in Blackford, Carroll, Gibson, Greene, Jennings, Monroe, Newton, Owen, Pulaski, Rush and Scott counties, along with six juvenile magistrate positions in Marion County.
This provision is estimated to save the state approximately $748,885 in Fiscal Year 2027 and up to $2.75 M in Fiscal Year 2032, according to a fiscal analysis.
Sen. Jean Leising, R-Oldenburg, said constituents in her district were shocked by the move.
'That created quite a frenzy from the people that maybe should have been expecting it. I don't know, but they weren't expecting it,' she said.
Leising tried unsuccessfully to add her judges back into the bill on Monday. She voted against the proposal.
She said she knows the courts were chosen based on caseload statistics but she wished the list had been made public earlier in the process.
'I would just hope that in the future when things like this are done that maybe it was a more open process so those counties can come speak up,' Leising said. 'If a county now has two judges and you do away with one of them, it's a tremendous impact.'
The general idea of reallocation was discussed in a study committee in October 2024. Essentially, Indiana uses a weighted caseload study that assesses how much judicial time is needed for different types of cases. Then it looks at how many cases are filed to determine how many judges and magistrates are needed for the caseload.
For years lawmakers have added state-funded court officers when the statistics have shown more judges are needed to handle additional cases. But as population has shifted away from some rural counties, they have never taken a judge away — even if the weighted caseload shows they have too many court officers.
Sen. Liz Brown said every two years the study committee looks at the need for court officers when lawmakers are crafting a new state budget. That's because the state pays for the salaries of judges and magistrates — currently about $183,000 and $146,000, respectively.
CONTACT US
'At the same time we looked at where there is not a need in the state,' she said. 'I want to assure you that this was not done with any sense of personality … this is strictly where is the need in the state of Indiana.'
Brown said 'courts that are losing a judge, we looked at them on their own, independently, and said there is not sufficient need here.'
The weighted caseload study shows, for instance, that Monroe County has ten judges but only needs 7.87. Blackford County has two judges but the study shows it needs less than one.
The bill now goes back to the House, where court abolishments were not originally part of the measure. That chamber can either accept the changes or send the bill to conference committee for final negotiations.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Sen. Collins grills NIH director on research cuts
Jun. 10—Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, the new director of the National Institutes of Health, faced sharp questions from Sen. Susan Collins and other senators Tuesday about a proposed 40% budget reduction at the NIH and other cutbacks that are disrupting biomedical research. Bhattacharya appeared before the Senate Appropriations Committee's subcommittee on labor, health and human services and education on Tuesday as the Trump administration has slashed funding for biomedical research and public health. On Monday, hundreds of NIH scientists signed a letter, called the "Bethesda Declaration," asking the Trump administration to protect funding for biomedical research. Also Monday, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. raised concerns among public health advocates when he summarily dismissed all 17 members of a key committee that advises the government on approving vaccines. Kennedy, who has falsely questioned the safety and efficacy of vaccines, has not said who he would place on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which among other duties, recommends the formulation for the annual influenza vaccine. At the Senate hearing Tuesday, Bhattacharya largely dodged questions about the Trump administration's proposals to slash the agency, and the ongoing cuts to research grants. Collins, who voted to confirm Bhattacharya but has decried NIH cuts, questioned why the Trump administration is requesting a $19 billion cut to the NIH in the 2026 budget, which she said would "undo years of congressional investment." "It would delay or stop effective treatments and cures being developed for diseases like Alzheimer's, cancer and Type 1 diabetes," said Collins, who is chair of the Appropriations Committee. "We also risk falling behind China and other countries that are increasing their investment in biomedical research." Bhattacharya said the agency is "fully committed" to making progress on Alzheimer's and that the 2026 budget will be a "collaboration" between Congress and the White House. But, despite getting a series of questions from Collins and other Republican and Democratic senators, Bhattacharya did not specifically address the rationale for the budget cuts. Collins has also been speaking out for months against the agency's moves to cap the amount of money that biomedical researchers can use for indirect costs at no more than 15% of their NIH grants. The indirect costs include overhead expenses, equipment and technical support for scientific research and scientists say the cap would hobble research laboratories in Maine and across the country. The amount that NIH grants pay for indirect costs varies by grant, but made up 26% of the cost of each grant, on average, in 2023. Collins has also directly lobbied Kennedy to reverse the NIH cap on indirect costs, and Maine has joined other states in a lawsuit to block the cuts. On Tuesday, Collins said she is still "alarmed and surprised the administration's budget request (for next year) contains the same 15% cap." Bhattacharya said he couldn't discuss the indirect costs issue because of the pending lawsuit, but that there's "lots of great possibilities for reform" on how NIH awards grants for research. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisconsin, also pointed out that the NIH has so far in 2025 spent $3 billion less on biomedical research compared to the same time in 2024, largely by freezing or denying grant funding on research that Congress previously approved. Much of the denied funding is the subject of pending lawsuits by states and universities that argue the Trump administration is illegally blocking the funding. The lawsuits argue that the executive branch is required to spend money that Congress approves, and the Trump administration does not have the power to block previously approved funding. "How is this anything other than sabotaging biomedical research?" Baldwin said. Bhattacharya did not answer, except to say he's "happy to work with Congress" on funding issues. Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Illinois, said the cuts to research are disturbing. "For God's sake, we lead the world in medical research. Why would we walk away from it?" Durbin said. Copy the Story Link
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Yahoo
End of multi-billion Missouri fiscal surplus is near, budget director says
Missouri budget director Dan Haug speaks during the 2024 legislative session to the House Budget Committee. (Rudi Keller/Missouri Independent) The historically high surplus Missouri has enjoyed for the past six years will be nearly depleted at the end of the coming fiscal year, state budget director Dan Haug warned lawmakers during a committee hearing last week. For several years, the state has budgeted billions more from the general revenue fund than current taxes were generating. The extra money has come from a surplus accumulated from double-digit growth in tax collections during 2021 and 2022 and substituting federal COVID-19 relief funds for general revenue, generating savings. When Gov. Mike Kehoe unveiled his budget plan in January, the unobligated general revenue balance at the end of the coming fiscal year was projected to be $1.4 billion. Five months later, that estimate has been slashed in half. Now, Haug said, the unobligated reserve will be $600 million to $700 million. 'The times are going to be getting tougher as we go forward, and so I think we would like to try to limit general revenue spending so that we are able to craft responsible budgets,' Haug said last week to the Senate Appropriations Committee. Lawmakers are meeting in special session to consider Kehoe's plan to set aside nearly $1.5 billion in future tax revenue to finance new or renovated stadiums for the Kansas City Royals and Chiefs. To win passage in the Missouri Senate, Kehoe agreed to add $125 million in general revenue to a spending bill. Missouri governor allows more spending, property tax cap as he pursues stadium deal That addition would reduce Haug's projection for the June 30, 2026 balance to $500 million to $600 million, the lowest since June 2020. Haug declined to respond to questions from The Independent explaining what changed to lower the projected balance. The top leaders of the House Budget Committee, which will hold a hearing Tuesday on the special session spending bill, said they had not heard the latest forecast and will ask Haug to explain it. 'I'll need to ask him about that and have him walk me through what that projection is,' said Budget Committee Chairman Dirk Deaton, a Republican from Noel. 'There is a real, legitimate concern around long-term fiscal sustainability, and we've got to be mindful of that.' State Rep. Betsy Fogle of Springfield, the ranking Democrat on the committee, said she's getting pressure from members who want to add spending that failed when a construction spending bill was spiked before a final House vote. 'In order to make decisions about the economic future of Missouri, we need to have all the facts in front of us,' Fogle said. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Lincoln Hough, a Republican from Springfield, said he disagrees with Haug's estimate, which he said is too low. 'They're taking a more pessimistic approach to their calculation than is warranted,' Hough said. The peak for reserve cash was nearly $8 billion at the end of fiscal 2023, including funds that could be spent like general revenue. For comparison, the lowest recent end-of-year balance was $5.1 million on hand at the end of fiscal 2017. With the avalanche of cash, the state embarked on several major projects unthinkable just a few years earlier. General revenue made up half of the $2.8 billion allocated for widening Interstate 70. Another $600 million was set aside to fund a major expansion of the Capitol Building. There were new general-revenue funded buildings on every public college campus, a new state health lab and a new $300 million mental hospital in Kansas City. The state employee pension system received $500 million to help its long-term outlook and state workers are enjoying pay raises totaling 21% over the past three years, with another raise of up to 10% coming for long-term workers. Lawmakers have also taken advantage of the surplus to fund local priorities. The trend began in 2022 with a few dozen items, and accelerated in each of the last three years with about 275 new earmarks added in 2023 and another 280 in 2024. Former Gov. Mike Parson used a line-item veto to cut many of the items added by lawmakers, but most remained in place. The budget on Kehoe's desk includes 250 new earmarked items, using $417.7 million in general revenue. During the regular session, before the new, lowered surplus projection, Deaton warned that this may be the last year for dipping into the surplus for local needs. 'We're still in a good position, but certainly those opportunities are diminishing,' he said. 'And if it's not next year, it'll be the year after that.' When Kehoe took over in January, the outlook was that the general revenue surplus would be $2.5 billion when the fiscal year ends on June 30, with another $1.4 billion in other funds that can be spent like general revenue. The budget before Kehoe uses $1.1 billion of those other funds. The special session spending bill began with $50 million in general revenue. Kehoe agreed to add $125 million, for two items: $100 million for St. Louis tornado recovery and $25 million for a new research reactor at the University of Missouri. The funds for tornado recovery and the reactor were items demanded by Senate Democratic lawmakers as the price for supporting — or at least not filibustering — the stadium bill. Democrats in the House, who provided the decisive votes in favor of the stadium financing plan during the regular session, will meet to decide if they will also ask for favors, Fogle said. The earmarked items in the spiked construction bill is a place to start, she said. 'There were vitally important investments in that bill,' Fogle said. There may be little room for negotiation, she noted. 'There's some truth to the fact that there's an assumption that the House is going to pass the bill, the stadium bill specifically, considering we already have,' Fogle said. The Republican majority will not seek additions to the spending bill, Deaton said. 'I've certainly had members talk to me and basically inquire as if there would be an opportunity, or if there was the possibility of things to be added, as you would expect,' Deaton said. 'I certainly won't be dropping any kind of a House committee substitute or adding anything.' Haug's warning of a disappearing surplus came despite positive trends in state tax collections, a growing total balance in the general revenue fund and a budget before Kehoe that spent $119 million less in general revenue than the governor requested in January. After running below the previous year for 11 months, revenues have turned sharply positive. If the year-to-date growth rate reported Friday continued to the end of the month, the state would collect about $300 million more than was forecast in December for the full fiscal year. And with modest growth projected for the coming year, the higher-than-expected revenue would carry over into a reset of the basic assumption for tax collections. The negative factors that will lower tax collections include a tax cut approved by lawmakers, expected to reduce revenue by about $250 million in the coming year, and federal tax changes, currently expected to cost the treasury at least $170 million. The federal budget bill being considered by the U.S. Senate also has the potential to impose large new costs on the state, up to $400 million annually to continue the SNAP food benefits program and unknown amounts due to changes in federal support for Medicaid. The state will be limited in its ability to launch new programs in the future, Haug said last week. 'We feel like we need to sort of get back to basics on general revenue spending,' he said. Future budgets will be tight because the state will need to pay those new costs and continue the programs it has already begun with surplus funds, Deaton said. 'It's one thing to be able to do it this year, but can you do it next year?' Deaton said. 'Can you do it the year after that, obviously, is the big open question. We will see what tax revenues do or don't do, but we're definitely on somewhat of a perilous path.' Hough, however, said he sees no reason to hold money just to maintain a large balance. 'I try to take what would be a more realistic approach,' Hough said. 'Everybody always talks about taxation as theft. Well, if we're going to steal your money, we ought to invest it in your communities on the things that matter to you and support you.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Yahoo
Republican Indiana Sen. Mike Bohacek still driving as DUI case stalls
Sen. Mike Bohacek, R-Michiana Shores, speaks on the Indiana Senate floor on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024. (Leslie Bonilla Muñiz/Indiana Capital Chronicle) Indiana Sen. Mike Bohacek is still legally driving more than five months after an alleged drunken driving incident in Michigan City, and the Republican lawmaker has asked to keep his license — so long as he installs an alcohol-monitoring device in his car, according to new court documents. The June 5 motion, filed in LaPorte Superior Court by Bohacek's Michigan City-based attorney, David Payne, requests the installation of an ignition interlock device, or IID, as an alternative to license suspension. Under Indiana law, courts can order such devices in lieu of suspending driving privileges when someone is charged with operating while intoxicated, if doing so would cause a hardship. Bohacek also refused a breathalyzer test during the traffic stop. Payne argued that suspension of Bohacek's license would impose 'a substantial hardship' on the senator and his family. Indiana GOP Sen. Mike Bohacek charged with DUI months after incident There was no ruling on the request as of Monday afternoon. The case remains without a judge, and legal proceedings have been stalled for weeks due to multiple judicial recusals. Three special judges, all in LaPorte County, opted out from the case one after another. Then, all the judges and magistrates of LaPorte County filed a motion saying they collectively 'have a conflict herein and they all hereby recuse themselves in this cause of action.' Judge Jeffrey L. Thode of the Superior Court in neighboring Porter County, was assigned the case last week but has not yet accepted, according to the state's online court portal. A special prosecutor from Porter County is handling the matter. The underlying charges, filed May 15, stem from a Jan. 24 incident in Michigan City, after a citizen reported seeing Bohacek 'drinking an open container and stumble out of his vehicle' in a Panda Express parking lot, according to charging documents obtained by the Indiana Capital Chronicle. Police later located and pulled him over near Swan Lake Cemetery along U.S. 20. He was taken to a hospital, where a blood test revealed a blood alcohol concentration of 0.28% — more than three times the legal limit in Indiana. But Bohacek wasn't arrested at the time. Under Indiana law, members of the General Assembly are shielded from arrest in most cases during the legislative session — a protection known as legislative immunity. That meant Bohacek's case was kept sealed and the senator remained uncharged for months. The incident did not become public until last week when reporters began asking for details. Court records show Bohacek was formally charged with three misdemeanors: operating a vehicle with an alcohol concentration equivalent of 0.15% or more; operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person; and operating a vehicle while intoxicated. CONTACT US Bohacek's license has not been suspended. Typically, Indiana law requires a license suspension following a court's finding of probable cause in DUI cases, as well as when a person refuses a breathalyzer test. But without a sitting judge, that process has stalled. Bohacek has not commented publicly on the case. Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville, didn't specify when he learned about the incident or if any disciplinary action was taken during the 2025 legislative session, or since adjournment. 'I was extremely disappointed to hear this news, and I expressed my disappointment to Sen. Bohacek,' Bray said in a statement. 'Our Senate Rules make clear members are to be held to high standards, and this does not meet that standard. Here in Indiana, nobody is above the law. I will be monitoring this case as it goes forward and our legal system does its work, after which I will consider any next steps.' Bohacek, who represents portions of LaPorte, St. Joseph and Starke counties, has served in the Indiana Senate since 2016. He most recently served on the Corrections and Criminal Law, Health and Provider Services, and Local Government committees. Since charges were filed against Bohacek, details have emerged about a similar case involving Rep. Jason 'Beau' Baird, R-Greencastle, who was arrested in 2018 for operating while intoxicated in Lafayette during his first campaign for office. Baird pleaded guilty to OWI and later accepted a plea agreement in 2019, after taking office. But court records show the representative's name was misspelled as 'Jason Bean Baird' rather than 'Jason Beau Baird,' making the case more difficult to locate in public searches. The Tippecanoe County Prosecutor's office did not respond to the Capital Chronicle's request for comment about the misspelled name. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
