---
title: 3.2.26 - House Judiciary Budget Hearing
description: Judiciary highlights fiscal challenges, funding needs, and program impacts at House Judiciary Budget Hearing for FY 2026-27, emphasizing personnel costs, security, and access-to-justice concerns.
image: https://support.thedtfirm.com/hubfs/Judiciary.jpg
---

![](https://support.thedtfirm.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Judiciary.jpg?width=225&height=225&name=Judiciary.jpg)

Budget Related Judiciary

# 3.2.26 - House Judiciary Budget Hearing

![The DT Firm](https://support.thedtfirm.com/hs-fs/hubfs/website/image/dt-favicon.png?width=48&height=48&name=dt-favicon.png)

 The DT Firm

March 3, 2026

**Hearing overview and framing**

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**Judiciary opening testimony: key budget pressures and requests**

Justice Dougherty’s opening remarks centered on the judiciary’s funding structure and what he described as urgent fiscal pressures:

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**Member questions and judiciary responses (by topic)**

**1) Supreme Court scheduling / timing of decisions (Rep. Fleming)**

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**2) Treatment courts / specialty courts outcomes and standards (Rep. Nelson)**

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**3) Behavioral health / competency evaluations delay (Rep. Nelson follow-up; AOPC response)**

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**4) Access to courts / virtual participation concerns (Rep. Kincaid)**

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**5) IOLTA funding rules and expanding “right to counsel” (Rep. Kincaid)**

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**6) Marijuana legalization assumptions, caseload impacts, and expungement IT costs (Rep. Krupa)**

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**7) Court security funding and incident data (Rep. Bellman)**

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**8) Budget toplines, Act 49 reliance, and funding mix (Rep. Kutz)**

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**9) Commission for Fairness and Justice line item increase (Rep. Rigby)**

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**10) Cybersecurity posture and county-managed systems (Rep. (spelled “Alzheimer” in transcript))**

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**11) AI in the judiciary: interim guidance and ethics concerns (Rep. Cale)**

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**12) Governor’s proposal vs judiciary request; consequences of underfunding (Chairman Struzzi; Chairman Harris)**

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**13) Courts “in the community,” internships, and Clean Slate implementation (Chairman Harris)**

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**Notable themes that emerged**

Across member questions, the hearing repeatedly returned to a tension between (1) reliance on fee-driven revenue (Act 49) and (2) access-to-justice concerns—paired with operational pressures in the county-level courts (staffing, safety, and IT/cybersecurity). This is supported by the judiciary’s repeated emphasis on Act 49 decline and county-level impacts, and by Harris’s stated opposition to funding the court system via fines/fees.

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## Keep reading

[![](https://support.thedtfirm.com/hs-fs/hubfs/PSP.jpg?width=225&height=225&name=PSP.jpg)

PSP Budget Related

### 3.11.26 - House Budget Hearing Pennsylvania State Police

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[![](https://support.thedtfirm.com/hs-fs/hubfs/OOB2-1.png?width=847&height=460&name=OOB2-1.png)

Budget Related OOB

### 3.12.26 - House Budget Hearing - Governor's Budget Office

](https://support.thedtfirm.com/dts-budget-blog/3.12.26-house-budget-hearing-governors-budget-office)

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