AN ACT CONCERNING FUNDING FOR LEGAL SERVICES AND JUDICIAL BRANCH TECHNOLOGY.

AN ACT CONCERNING FUNDING FOR LEGAL SERVICES AND JUDICIAL BRANCH TECHNOLOGY.

This bill requires, instead of authorizes, the chief court administrator to establish and administer a fund know as the Data Processing Revolving Fund, which must be used to maintain and improve any informational data processing system the Judicial Department operates.

The bill increases certain court filing fees and requires the chief court administrator, or a designee, quarterly, by the 30^th of January, April, July, and October to:

1. certify the amount of revenue obtained as a result of the fee increases under the bill,

2. transfer one-half of such amount to the organization administering the IOLTA (interest on lawyer's trust accounts) program, and

3. deposit the other half in the revolving fund to maintain and improve any informational data processing system the Judicial Department operates.

*Senate Amendment “A” (1) eliminates the provisions in the bill that increase in the annual attorney occupational tax and direct that this increase in tax revenue be used to fund legal services and Judicial Branch technology projects; (2) increases court filing fees more than the file copy did; and (3) mandates, instead of authorizes, the chief court administrator to establish and administer the Judicial Data Processing Revolving Fund.

1. the jury fee in civil actions, from $ 350 to $ 425;

2. the filing fee for bringing a case in the Superior Court, from (a) $ 225 to $ 300 and (b) from $ 120 to $ 175, for a case in which the sole claim for relief is damages of up to $ 2,500 and for summary process, landlord and tenant, and paternity actions;

3. entry fee for small claims court, from $ 35 to $ 75;

4. fees to transfer a small claims case to the regular docket from $ 75 to $ 125;

5. designation of a case as a complex litigation from $ 250 to $ 325;

6. application for a prejudgment remedy, from $ 100 to $ 175;

7. a motion to open, set aside, modify, or extend any Superior Court civil judgment, (a) from $ 35 to $ 75 for housing matters, (b) $ 25 to $ 75 for small claims matters, and (c) from $ 70 to $ 125, for other matters;

8. filing a motion to open or reargue a judgment in any civil appeal rendered by the Supreme Court or Appellate Court or to reconsider any other civil matter decided in either court, from $ 70 to $ 125; and

9. application by a judgment creditor for (a) an execution against the personal property of a judgment debtor or the debt due from a financial institution or (b) a wage execution against a judgment debtor who fails to comply with an installment payment order, from $ 35 to $ 75.

Under this program, lawyers pool their clients' fund accounts and use the interest to assist in providing legal services to the poor and scholarships for poor law students. Clients' funds that are less than $ 10,000 in amount, or expected to be held for less than 60 business days, must be deposited by participating lawyers, law firms, and entities in interest-bearing accounts specifically established pursuant to the program. The law requires that each entity, other than a borrower, having an account established to receive loan proceeds from a mortgage lender, may participate in the program (CGS § 51-81b).

The law authorizes the Superior Court judges to choose an administrator for the program.

SB 1160, (File 686), reported favorably by the Judiciary Committee, alters the rules for participating in IOLTA.