(a) Continuation.--The Court Administrator of Pennsylvania shall continue the program to defray the costs imposed on counties by the rules of judicial administration for facilities and staff for senior judges assigned to the courts of common pleas.
(b) Availability.--Grants shall be made available to counties based on the level of operational support provided by a county to:
(1) Senior judges formerly of the judicial district in which the county is situated who are regularly or periodically assigned in that county or who are assigned under section 4544 (relating to convening multicounty investigating grand jury).
(2) Visiting senior judges.
(c) Purpose.--Grants shall reimburse counties for operational support provided by the county during the preceding calendar year. Grants shall be calculated based on use of judicial chambers, utilization of the services of a law clerk and utilization of the services of a secretary, which chambers or services are deemed adequate and appropriate by the Administrative Office as follows:
(1) Use of judicial chambers shall be reimbursed at the rate of $60 per day, billable in one-half-day increments.
(2) Utilization of services of a law clerk shall be reimbursed at $20 per hour.
(3) Utilization of services of a secretary shall be reimbursed at $12 per hour.
(d) Reimbursement.--
(1) Counties shall be reimbursed upon timely application by the board of commissioners or, in the absence of a board of commissioners, the executive authority of the county or, in the case of a county which is coterminous with a city of the first class, the mayor of the city of the first class.
(2) The application shall be certified by the president judge of the judicial district in which the county is situated and shall include such documentation as may be required by the Administrative Office.
(3) The due dates for applications for operational support provided during each calendar year shall be established by the Court Administrator of Pennsylvania.
(e) Minimum standards.--The Administrative Office shall set forth minimum standards regarding adequacy, appropriateness and quality of judicial chambers and services required to qualify for reimbursement.
(f) Reduction.--In the event that the total reimbursement qualifying for payment for any calendar year exceeds the amount appropriated by the General Assembly for such purpose, the Court Administrator of Pennsylvania shall proportionally reduce the grant for each county so that the total of all grants does not exceed the amount appropriated.
(g) Limit on grant amount.--No county shall receive more than 20% of the amount appropriated for senior judge operational support grants in any fiscal year.
(h) Report.--Not later than 60 days following payment of grants for any year, the Court Administrator of Pennsylvania shall make a report to the Appropriations Committee of the Senate and the Appropriations Committee of the House of Representatives setting forth the payments made to counties and the services provided.
(Oct. 30, 2017, P.L.802, No.49, eff. imd.)
2017 Amendment. Act 49 added section 1906.1. See section 3 of Act 49 in the appendix to this title for special provisions relating to applicability.