HB2859 - 552R

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 12-115, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE12-115. Additional filing, appearance and answer or response fees; deposit

A. In addition to any other assessment authorized by law, the supreme court shall establish an additional fee on each filing, appearance and answer or response fee charged by a clerk of the superior court.

B. The clerk shall collect the additional fee and monthly remit the additional fees to the county treasurer. The county treasurer shall transmit the fees to the state treasurer on or before the fifteenth day of each month for deposit, pursuant to sections 35-146 and 35-147, in the Arizona lengthy trial and digital evidence fund established by section 21-222. The state treasurer shall invest and divest monies in the fund as provided by section 35-313, and monies earned from investment shall be credited to the fund.

C. The additional fee may be deferred or waived pursuant to sections 12-302 and 12-304.

D. In establishing the additional fees under subsection A of this section, the supreme court may designate by rule that the additional fees not be imposed on filings in types of cases that involve minimal use of court resources, that are not afforded the opportunity for a trial by jury or that do not involve the use of digital evidence. END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Section 12-120, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE12-120. Creation of court of appeals; court of record; composition; sessions

A. There is created A court of appeals which shall constitute is established and constitutes a single court and such court shall be a court of record.

B. The court of appeals shall be divided into two divisions which shall be designated as division 1 and division 2. Division 1 shall have sixteen nineteen judges, consisting of the chief judge and five six departments of three judges each, denominated, respectively, department A, department B, department C, department D, and department E and department F. Division 2 shall have six nine judges, consisting of two three departments of three judges each, denominated, respectively, department A, and department B and department C.

C. Division 1 shall consist of the counties of Maricopa, Yuma, La Paz, Mohave, Coconino, Yavapai, Navajo and Apache.

D. Division 2 shall consist of the counties of Pima, Pinal, Cochise, Santa Cruz, Greenlee, Graham and Gila.

E. The sessions of divisions 1 and 2 shall be held in Phoenix and Tucson, respectively. Sessions may be held at places other than Phoenix or Tucson when in the opinion of a majority of the judges of a division or department the public interest so requires. The judges of the respective divisions and departments may hold sessions in either division and shall do so when directed by the chief justice of the supreme court. Each judge of the court of appeals may participate in matters pending before a different division or department. A matter may be transferred between divisions in order to equalize caseloads and for the best use of judicial resources.

F. No Not more than three judges of the court of appeals, including superior court judges and retired judges sitting with the court, shall hear and determine a matter and render a decision, and a majority of two of the three judges shall be sufficient to render a decision. END_STATUTE

Sec. 3. Section 12-120.02, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE12-120.02. Election of judges

A. In division 1, of the fifteen ninteen judges who are on the bench on July 1, 1995, ten of the judges shall be residents of and elected for retention from Maricopa county, and five of the judges shall be residents of the remaining counties in the division and shall be elected for retention by the voters of the counties in division 1, excluding Maricopa county, and four of the judges shall be at-large judges and be residents of any county in the division. If the sixteenth an at-large judge is a resident of Maricopa county, the judge shall be elected for retention by the voters of Maricopa county. If the sixteenth an at-large judge is not a resident of Maricopa county, the judge shall be elected for retention by the voters of the counties in division 1, excluding Maricopa county.

B. In division 2, of the nine judges, four of the judges shall be residents of and elected from Pima county, and two of the judges shall be residents of the remaining counties in the division and shall be elected by the voters of the counties in division 2, excluding Pima county, and three of the judges shall be at-large judges and be residents of any county in the division. If an at-large judge is a resident of pima county, the judge shall be elected for retention by the voters of Pima county. if an at-large judge is not a resident of Pima county, the judge shall be elected for retention by the voters of the counties in division 2, excluding Pima county. END_STATUTE

Sec. 4. Section 21-222, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE21-222. Arizona trial and digital evidence fund

A. The Arizona lengthy trial and digital evidence fund is established consisting of monies received from the additional fees paid on all filings, appearances, responses and answers pursuant to section 12-115 and monies appropriated by the legislature. The monies in the fund shall not be used for any purpose other than as prescribed in this section.

B. The supreme court shall administer the fund and shall adopt rules for the administration of administering the fund. Not more than three percent of the monies in the fund shall be used for the reasonable and necessary costs of administering the fund. On or before the fifteenth day of each month, on receipt of a request for reimbursement the supreme court shall transmit monies from the fund to a jury commissioner for monies paid to a juror under this section, together with a fee of not less than the amount prescribed in section 12-284, subsection A, class E for each application for payment of replacement or supplemental earnings by a juror.

C. Subject to the availability of monies, monies in the fund shall be used to:

1. Pay full or partial earnings replacement or supplementation to jurors who serve as petit jurors for more than five days in the superior court and who receive less than full compensation. The amount of replacement or supplemental earnings shall be at least $40 but not more than $300 per day per juror beginning on the first day of jury service.

2. If monies are available in the fund after paying jurors pursuant to paragraph 1 of this subsection, pay for the management and storage of digital evidence and to facilitate the display of the evidence to the jury and court at a trial and related proceedings.

D. A person who serves as a petit juror whose jury service lasts more than five days in the superior court may submit a request for payment from the fund. The amount a juror receives from the fund is limited to the difference between the jury fee prescribed in section 21-221 and the actual amount of earnings a juror earns, not less than $40, up to the maximum level payable under subsection C, paragraph 1 of this section, minus any amount the juror actually received from the juror's employer during the same time period. A juror who requests payment from the fund:

1. Shall disclose on the form the juror's regular earnings, the amount the juror's employer will pay during the term of jury service starting on the first day and thereafter, the amount of replacement or supplemental earnings being requested and any other information that the jury commissioner deems necessary.

2. Before receiving payment from the fund, shall submit verification from the juror's employer, if any, regarding the earnings information that is provided under paragraph 1 of this subsection. This verification may include the employee's most recent earnings statement or a similar document.

3. In order to verify the weekly income if the juror is self-employed or receives compensation other than wages, shall provide a sworn affidavit attesting to the juror's approximate gross weekly income, together with any other information that the supreme court requires.

E. Jurors who are unemployed and are not eligible for payment pursuant to subsection C, paragraph 1 and subsection D of this section are eligible to be paid $40 per day, even if they receive income in the form of spousal maintenance, pensions, retirement, unemployment compensation, disability benefits or other similar income. Commissioners shall not deduct these other forms of income in calculating the amount these jurors are to be paid from the fund. END_STATUTE

Sec. 5. Section 22-117, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE22-117. Payment of compensation and expenses

A. Justices of the peace shall be allowed by the board of supervisors, as a county charge, the following:

1. Space.

2. Equipment.

3. Supplies.

B. In a county with a population of less than one million five hundred thousand persons, the state shall pay 19.25 per cent forty percent of the compensation and employee related employee-related expenditures of a justice of the peace, and the county shall pay 80.75 per cent sixty percent of the compensation and employee related employee-related expenditures of a justice of the peace, except that the county shall pay the full amount of the employer contribution of the state retirement system or plan or any county health plan.

C. If a county is subject to subsection B of this section, the state treasurer shall remit the compensation and employee related employee-related expenditures payable by the state to the county treasurer, and the county shall disburse the funds monies to the justice of the peace.

D. In a county with a population of one million five hundred thousand persons or more, the county shall pay one hundred per cent percent of the compensation and employee related employee-related expenditures of a justice of the peace.

E. If a county is subject to subsection D of this section, the following apply:

1. The county's contribution to the hospitalization and medical care of the indigent sick and for the administrative costs of implementing sections 36-2901.01 and 36-2901.04 shall be reduced pursuant to section 11-292, subsection R, in an amount that is equal to the difference between the total costs that the county paid pursuant to subsection D of this section and the amount that the county would have paid if the county were subject to subsection B of this section.

2. Pursuant to section 41-563, subsection D, the economic estimates commission shall increase the county's base expenditure limit in an amount that is equal to the difference between the total costs that the county paid pursuant to subsection D of this section and the amount that the county would have paid if the county were subject to subsection B of this section.

F. The total amount that may be expended in any fiscal year by the state treasurer for justice of the peace compensation and employee related expenditures reimbursement shall not exceed the amount appropriated in the general appropriation act for this purpose, together with additional amounts appropriated by any special legislative appropriation for justices of the peace. END_STATUTE

Sec. 6. Laws 2018, chapter 278, section 17, as amended by Laws 2021, chapter 403, section 24, is amended to read:

Sec. 17. Supreme court; juvenile probation services fund; alternative dispute resolution fund; drug treatment and education fund; Arizona trial and digital evidence fund; fiscal years 2018-2019, 2019-2020, 2020-2021, 2021-2022 and 2022-2023

Notwithstanding sections 8-322, 12-135, 13-901.02 and 21-222, Arizona Revised Statutes, in fiscal years 2018-2019, 2019-2020, 2020-2021, and 2021-2022 and 2022-2023, the supreme court may use up to $2,600,000 over the combined fiscal years to design, implement and upgrade a new appellate case management system. The total monies allocated by this section may not exceed $2,600,000. The supreme court may use monies in any of the following funds for the purposes of the new appellate case management system:

1. The juvenile probation services fund established by section 8-322, Arizona Revised Statutes.

2. The alternative dispute resolution fund established by section 12-135, Arizona Revised Statutes.

3. The drug treatment and education fund established by section 13-901.02, Arizona Revised Statutes.

4. The Arizona lengthy trial and digital evidence fund established by section 21-222, Arizona Revised Statutes.

Sec. 7. Administrative office of the courts; appellate court resource evaluation; report; delayed repeal

A. The administrative office of the courts shall conduct an evaluation to determine whether the distribution of cases between division 1 and division 2 of the court of appeals should be reallocated between the divisions for optimal use of judicial resources and expeditious case resolution. The administrative office of the courts shall prepare a report on the results of the evaluation.

B. On or before January 1, 2025, the administrative office of the courts shall submit the evaluation report to the joint legislative budget committee and the governor's office of strategic planning and budgeting.

C. This section is repealed from and after June 30, 2025.

Sec. 8. Court of appeals; chief judge; designation of specialized departments

Through June 30, 2023, the chief judge of each division in the court of appeals may designate a specialized department to process different types of matters, including a specialized department that handles matters related to complex civil litigation.