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ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Fifth Legislature, Second Regular Session
juvenile dependency; state aid; appropriation
Purpose
Establishes the State Aid for Juvenile Dependency Proceedings Fund (Fund), administered by the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission (ACJC), to provide state aid to county, legal and indigent defense counselors for the processing of juvenile dependency cases. Appropriates $2,000,000 from the state General Fund (state GF) in FY 2023 to the Fund.
Background
The ACJC is a 19-member commission that must monitor the progress and implementation of new and continuing criminal justice legislation, facilitate research among criminal justice agencies and maintain the criminal justice information system (A.R.S. §§ 41-2404 and 41-2405). ACJC administers the State Aid to County Attorneys Fund and State Aid to Indigent Defense Fund to provide state aid to counties to improve the processing of criminal cases (JLBC Baseline).
H.B. 2044 appropriates $2,000,000 from the state GF in FY 2023 to the Fund.
Provisions
1. Establishes the Fund consisting of legislative appropriations.
2. Directs ACJC to administer the Fund and specifies that Fund monies are continuously appropriated.
3. Requires monies in the Fund to be used to provide state aid to county public defenders, legal defenders and contract indigent defense counsel for the processing of juvenile dependency cases.
4. Appropriates $2,000,000 from the state GF in FY 2023 to the Fund.
5. Requires ACJC, by September 1 of each fiscal year, to distribute Fund monies to each eligible county in which the three-year average of the total juvenile dependency case filings in the county superior court exceeds the three-year average for FYs 2013 through 2015 based on the proportional share of the increase in petitions for each county.
6. Requires the county board of supervisors to account for monies distributed from the Fund separately and requires the county treasurer to invest the monies.
7. Requires the county board of supervisors to spend the monies and interest earned only for the authorized purposes.
8. Directs the State Treasurer, on notice from ACJC, to invest and divest monies in the Fund and requires monies earned from investments to be credited to the Fund.
9. Exempts the appropriation and Fund monies from lapsing.
10. Makes technical and conforming changes.
11. Becomes effective on the general effective date.
House Action
APPROP 1/19/22 DP 11-1-0-1
3rd Read 2/24/22 49-10-1
Prepared by Senate Research
March 4, 2022
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