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Administrative Office of the Courts

  Average Annual FTEs Near General Fund State Other Funds Total Funds
  (Dollars in Thousands)
Current Budget 558.0 250,566 205,716 456,282
2025-27 Maintenance Level 533.1 243,613 184,436 428,049
Difference from 2025-27 Original (24.9) (6,953) (21,280) (28,233)
% Change from 2025-27 Original (4.5%) (2.8%) (10.3%) (6.2%)

2025 Policy Other Changes

Maintain Judicial Branch Education 7.0 9,769 0 9,769
Continue Securing Courts 0.0 500 0 500
Fund New Superior Court Judges 1.5 1,274 0 1,274
Continue D4J Initiative 2.5 930 0 930
Sustain Courtroom Technology 1.0 2,346 0 2,346
Extend Court Self-Help Centers 0.0 2,080 0 2,080
Continue CPO Support for Courts 1.5 1,648 0 1,648
Fund Judicial Need Estimate 0.0 350 0 350
Continue Blake Implementation 9.0 3,478 0 3,478
Fund Water Rights Obligation 1.0 2,187 0 2,187
Stabilize Interpreter Reimb Pgm 0.0 1,800 0 1,800
Continue Services for Indigent Def 1.0 2,232 0 2,232
Support Court Mgmt. and Operations 3.0 1,166 0 1,166
Expand Court Research Capacity 2.0 916 0 916
Improve Family Law & DV Research 1.0 418 0 418
Enhance Behavioral Health Program 2.0 780 0 780
Migrate Court Reporting to Cloud 2.5 2,177 0 2,177
Continue Transition to Cloud Svcs 7.0 3,495 0 3,495
Continue Data Quality Team 6.0 2,340 0 2,340
Fully Support CLJ-CMS Project 11.0 5,366 0 5,366
General Budget Request Reduction 0.0 (4,893) 0 (4,893)
2025 Policy Other Changes Total 59.0 40,359 0 40,359

2025 Policy Comp Changes

Retain and Recruit Staff 0.0 3,670 0 3,670
Non-Rep General Wage Increase 0.0 6,674 9 6,683
Updated PEBB Rate 0.0 (165) 0 (165)
PERS & TRS Plan 1 Benefit Increase 0.0 74 0 74
Pension Benefit Amortization 0.0 (271) 0 (271)
2025 Policy Comp Changes Total 0.0 9,982 9 9,991

2025 Policy Central Services Changes

Archives/Records Management 0.0 1 0 1
Audit Services 0.0 3 0 3
Legal Services 0.0 11 0 11
WTS Central Services 0.0 73 0 73
DES Central Services 0.0 29 0 29
OFM Central Services 0.0 1,037 0 1,037
GOV Central Services 0.0 9 0 9
2025 Policy Central Services Changes Total 0.0 1,163 0 1,163
Total Policy Changes 59.0 51,504 9 51,513
2025-27 Policy Level 592.1 295,117 184,445 479,562
Difference from 2023-25 34.1 44,551 (21,271) 23,280
% Change from 2025-27 Original 6.1% 17.8% (10.3%) 5.1%

Policy Changes

Maintain Judicial Branch Education

Funding is provided for ongoing education to address Washington’s constantly changing judicial system. Access to high-quality judicial education is needed to ensure uniform application of laws and bolster public trust and confidence in the courts. While training costs have increased, funding for training has remained the same since 2007, reducing access to education and the number of subject-matter experts available to educate court system staff and judges. (General Fund - State)

Continue Securing Courts

This item funds the basic security equipment and services needed to secure small and rural courts, providing safe access to justice in communities. (General Fund - State)

Fund New Superior Court Judges

Funding is provided for three new superior court judges positions, two in King County and one in Skagit County, effective July 1,2025. The King County positions have received legislative approval, and approval for the Skagit County position will be requested in the upcoming legislative session. (General Fund - State)

Continue D4J Initiative

Continues funding for the Data for Justice Initiative which develops information used to manage programs that supports fair and effective justice, and helps courts build local capacity to interpret and use performance information. (General Fund - State)

Sustain Courtroom Technology

Funding is provided to establish a grant program to fund courtroom technology upgrades necessary to conduct efficient hybrid court proceedings. (General Fund - State)

Extend Court Self-Help Centers

Trial courts serve a significant number of litigants without legal representation, mainly in the areas of family law, protection orders, landlord-tenant disputes, and minor guardianships. Pilot programs in Grays Harbor and Spokane counties funded self-help centers to assist unrepresented litigants. These pilot programs have been incredibly successful, and the national research on self-help centers confirms that they increase access to justice for unrepresented litigants. This item continues funding for self-help centers. (General Fund - State)

Continue CPO Support for Courts

Funding is provided to support accessible and trauma-informed civil protection order processes. This continues previous funding that reimburses trial courts for judges pro tempore training and when they cover civil protection order dockets. It will improve the courts’ response to litigants through training, technical assistance and resource development. (General Fund - State)

Fund Judicial Need Estimate

Funding is provided to measure how many judges are needed to handle current and future workloads. A nationally adopted, weighted caseload approach to measuring judicial workload that provides more detail and is more valid than the current Objective Workload method will be conducted. This approach has a long track record of providing results useful to courts all across the nation. (General Fund - State)

Continue Blake Implementation

This item continues funding for implementation of the State v. Blake Supreme Court decision, including operations of the Blake Refund Bureau. (General Fund - State)

Fund Water Rights Obligation

Activities related to resolve groundwater and surface water rights in the Nooksack Basin Water Resource Inventory Area are funded. These activities include a rural traveling court, facilities and technology infrastructure, ongoing costs for a dedicated superior court judge, and additional dedicated staff to support records requests, reporting, and evidence management for thousands of water rights claim filings. (General Fund - State)

Stabilize Interpreter Reimb Pgm

Funding is provided for greater interpreter access to the court system and language services to court customers in the 125 contracted courts. Increasing the use of credentialed court interpreters and translating materials increases access to justice for court users who are not proficient in English or who are deaf or hard of hearing. (General Fund - State)

Continue Services for Indigent Def

This item funds statewide pretrial services and increases access to alternatives to incarceration for indigent individuals who cannot afford to pay for services ordered as an alternative to incarceration. This funding will increase the availability and equity of alternatives to incarceration and reduce disproportionate impacts on marginalized groups and inequities between jurisdictions. (General Fund - State)

Support Court Mgmt. and Operations

Funds improvements to the agency's business support model which provides education, training, analysis and implementation of laws, policies, court rules, best practices, and technology in Washington courts. Courts are in a constant state of change, technology grows more complex, new laws are enacted and implemented, and new research informs policies and best practices guiding court programs. (General Fund - State)

Expand Court Research Capacity

Funding is provided to meet the expanded responsibilities of the Washington Center for Court Research. (General Fund - State)

Improve Family Law & DV Research

This item funds a family law and domestic violence researcher position. Significant data and information gaps in the areas of family law and domestic violence in the justice system will be filled, allowing researchers, the courts, and the public to better understand access to justice issues, disparities, needs and trends. (General Fund - State)

Enhance Behavioral Health Program

Funding is provided to operate the Behavioral Health Program which will establish a central location for therapeutic court data and hire a Sequential Intercept Model Coordinator. Additional data is needed to address education, technical assistance, and support for therapeutic courts. (General Fund - State)

Migrate Court Reporting to Cloud

The version of a statewide reporting application used by courts is being discontinued by the vendor in 2027. Moving to a subscription-based version will take time. Completing this move during the 2025-27 Biennium will preserve the courts’ vital statewide reporting capabilities. Thousands of court users depend on this application to perform their duties, providing court data to judges, legislators, and the public. Funding is provided to prevent significant impact to those using the court system. (General Fund - State)

Continue Transition to Cloud Svcs

This funding supports AOC's move to Microsoft's cloud-based platforms, allowing courts to work together and share information in the post-pandemic, distributed work environment. By using these tools, courts can connect their local systems with state applications, address critical business process issues on their own using simple tools, and enable AOC to work with different groups to achieve statewide collaboration. (General Fund - State)

Continue Data Quality Team

Funding is provided for the Data Quality Program. Transition from a centralized Judicial Information System to diverging case management systems implemented by several courts has increased the volume of data issues and complexity of ensuring accurate and timely court data for statewide reporting, statistical analysis and decision making. Funding will support staff in managing the existing and emerging backlog of data quality issues to improve data quality for the state’s court system. (General Fund - State)

Fully Support CLJ-CMS Project

Funding is provided to increase the number of courts that can go-live simultaneously on the new Courts of Limited Jurisdiction-Case Management System (CLJ-CMS). Purchase and deployment of the most up-to-date software functionality for Courts of Limited Jurisdiction and their probation offices is also funded. Full implementation of the CLJ-CMS project is a priority. (General Fund - State)

General Budget Request Reduction

The Administrative Office of the Courts will reduce overall additional spending by ten percent of new policy level funding. (General Fund - State)

Retain and Recruit Staff

Salary adjustments are funded for judicial agencies, making them more competitive and better able to attract top job candidates. (General Fund - State)

Non-Rep General Wage Increase

Funding is provided for wage increases for state employees who are not represented by a union or are not under a bargaining agreement that is subject to financial feasibility determination. It is sufficient for a general wage increase of 3%, effective July 1, 2025, and a general wage increase of 2%, effective July 1, 2026. This item includes both general government and higher education workers. (General Fund - State, Judicial Stabilization Trust Acct - State)

Updated PEBB Rate

This item adjusts the employer funding rate for public employee insurance benefits to reflect policy-level decision packages. It increases the rate by $8 per month in the first fiscal year and decreases the rate by $34 per month in the second fiscal year, compared to the maintenance-level update, for a total rate of $1,315 in the first year and $1,355 in the second year. (General Fund - State)

PERS & TRS Plan 1 Benefit Increase

An adjustment is made for pension contribution rates, including to fund a benefit increase of 3%, up to a maximum of $110 per month for eligible Public Employees' and Teachers' Retirement Systems Plan 1 members. (General Fund - State)

Pension Benefit Amortization

An adjustment is made to the base pension rates, as set out in a proposed bill addressing the calculation of the base rate for the 2025–27 biennium, as well as amortization of Plan 1 benefit increases. (General Fund - State)

Archives/Records Management

Adjustments are made for each agency's anticipated share of charges for archives and records management services provided by the Secretary of State's Office. (General Fund - State)

Audit Services

Adjustments are made for each agency's anticipated cost of audits performed by the State Auditor's Office. (General Fund - State)

Legal Services

Adjustments are made for each agency's anticipated cost of legal services provided by the Attorney General's Office. Because legal services expenditures are based on consumption, funding provided in the central service model is not all inclusive. The methodology to estimate consumption is a two-year average and allows for analysis to incorporate unique agency circumstances. (General Fund - State)

WTS Central Services

Adjustments are made to reflect each agency's anticipated share of charges from Washington Technology Solutions for the Office of Cybersecurity, state network, enterprise and small agency IT services, enterprise architecture and data management, Microsoft 365 licenses, and other items. (General Fund - State)

DES Central Services

Adjustments are made to reflect each agency's anticipated share of charges from the Department of Enterprise Services for Capitol Campus costs; real estate, risk management, and small agency services; the Perry Street and Capitol Campus child care centers; enterprise applications, and other items. (General Fund - State)

OFM Central Services

Adjustments are made to reflect each agency's anticipated share of charges from the Office of Financial Management for existing statewide applications, the One Washington program, and other central services. See Chapter 11 of the 2025–27 OFM Budget Instructions for allocation methodologies. (General Fund - State)

GOV Central Services

Adjustments are made to reflect each agency's anticipated share of charges from the Office of the Governor for the Office of Equity. (General Fund - State)