Fiscal Note & Local Impact Statement

127 ^th General Assembly of Ohio

Ohio Legislative Service Commission

77 South High Street, 9^th Floor, Columbus, OH 43215-6136 ² Phone: (614) 466-3615

² Internet Web Site: http://www.lsc.state.oh.us/

BILL:	H.B. 10		DATE:	April 19, 2007
STATUS:	As Introduced		SPONSOR:	Rep. Wolpert
LOCAL IMPACT STATEMENT REQUIRED:		No —	Minimal cost

CONTENTS:

Compensation of municipal court jurors

State Fiscal Highlights

· The bill has no readily discernible fiscal implications for state revenues and expenditures.

Local Fiscal Highlights

LOCAL GOVERNMENT		FY 2007	FY 2008	FUTURE YEARS
Certain Counties (those with one or more noncounty-operated municipal courts within their jurisdiction)
Revenues	- 0 -		- 0 -	- 0 -
Expenditures	Potential, at most minimal, increase in decision-making costs		Potential, at most minimal, increase in decision-making costs	Potential, at most minimal, increase in decision-making costs
Certain Municipalities (those with jurisdiction over a noncounty-operated municipal court)
Revenues	- 0 -		- 0 -	- 0 -
Expenditures	Potential, at most minimal, increase in decision-making costs		Potential, at most minimal, increase in decision-making costs	Potential, at most minimal, increase in decision-making costs

Note: For most local governments, the fiscal year is the calendar year. The school district fiscal year is July 1 through June 30.

· Expenditures of certain counties and municipalities. The likely costs associated with the juror compensation decision-making process for affected municipalities and counties are rather difficult to quantify in terms of traditional budgets and dollars. That said, such costs appear unlikely to be more than occasional or exceed minimal. For the purposes of this fiscal analysis, "minimal" means an estimated cost of no more than $5,000 for any affected municipality or county per year.

· Indirect effects. From LSC fiscal staff's perspective, it is rather difficult to predict how and when, if at all, the bill will affect the behavior and decisions of potentially affected municipalities and counties. Thus, whether the amount any given municipality expends annually on juror compensation will increase or decrease, as a function of the bill's permissive authority, as well as the magnitude of any such change, is uncertain.

· Local revenues. The bill has no readily apparent effect on local revenues.

Detailed Fiscal Analysis

Compensation of municipal court jurors

This bill permits the legislative authority to request, from the county commissioners, a change in jury compensation for the municipal court in its jurisdiction. It appears, as of this writing, that there are 126 municipal courts in Ohio. Of that number, 18 are county-operated municipal courts, and the remainder, or 108, are noncounty-operated municipal courts. The bill would potentially affect the municipalities with jurisdiction over those noncounty-operated municipal courts and the board of county commissioners of the county in which each of those noncounty-operated municipal courts is located.

Under current law, the county commissioners are responsible for determining jury compensation for all courts located in their jurisdiction. Based on a small sampling of jury commissions across Ohio, LSC fiscal staff has discerned that the typical level of jury compensation set by county commissioners is approximately $12 to $20 per day for all courts located within the county. The bill would give municipalities that operate a municipal court the ability to have a compensation level different from that set by county commissioners for all of the courts located within that county.

Local fiscal effects

Direct local fiscal effects

As noted, the bill will affect counties and municipalities that have noncounty-operated municipal courts in their jurisdiction. The bill permits the legislative authority with jurisdiction over a municipal court to request the county commissioners change the jury compensation rate paid to municipal court jurors. Upon receiving a request to change juror compensation rates, county commissioners will be required to review the proposal, determine if a rate change is necessary, debate if the rate change proposed is appropriate, and ultimately vote for or against the proposal.

The likely costs associated with this decision-making process for affected municipalities and counties are rather difficult to quantify in terms of traditional budgets and dollars. That said, such costs appear unlikely to be more than occasional or exceed minimal. For the purposes of this fiscal analysis, "minimal" means an estimated cost of no more than $5,000 for any affected municipality or county per year.

The bill has no readily apparent effect on local revenues.

Indirect or secondary local fiscal effects

The bill does not require municipalities to take any specific action with regard to jury compensation. If a legislative authority takes no action, then the amounts expended annually on juror compensation would be unchanged. Upon electing to change juror compensation, the legislative authority would have the option of deciding to either increase or decrease the rate paid jurors from the amount established by the county commissioners for all of the courts located in the county. From LSC fiscal staff's perspective, it is rather difficult to predict how and when, if at all, the bill will affect the behavior and decisions of potentially affected municipalities and counties. Thus, whether the amount any given municipality expends annually on juror compensation will increase or decrease, as a function of the bill's permissive authority, as well as the magnitude of any such change, is uncertain.

State fiscal effects

The bill has no readily discernible fiscal implications for state revenues and expenditures.

LSC fiscal staff: Matthew Stiffler, Budget Analyst

HB0010IN/lb