Judicial electronic filing fund; creation; use; credit; unencumbered balance remaining in fund; administration; expenditure; development of statewide electronic filing system; reimbursement to state court administrative office for costs.

(1) The judicial electronic filing fund is created in the state treasury. The money in the fund shall be used as provided in this section. (2) The state treasurer shall credit to the judicial electronic filing fund deposits of proceeds from the collection of revenue from court fees as provided in this act and shall credit all income from investment credited to the fund by the state treasurer. The state treasurer may invest money in the fund in any manner authorized by law for the investment of state money. However, an investment shall not interfere with any apportionment, allocation, or payment of money as required by this section. The state treasurer shall credit to the fund all income earned as a result of an investment of money in the fund. Except as provided in subsection (3), the unencumbered balance remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall remain in the fund and shall not revert to the general fund. (3) The state court administrative office shall administer the judicial electronic filing fund created under subsection (1). Money from the fund shall be expended to support the implementation, operation, and maintenance of a statewide electronic filing system and supporting technology as provided in this section and chapter 19A. Using a competitive bidding process, the supreme court and the state court administrative office may develop a statewide electronic filing system to facilitate statewide electronic filing of court documents. (4) The state court administrative office shall be reimbursed annually from the judicial electronic filing fund for all reasonable costs associated with the administration of this section, including judicial and staff training, on-site management assistance, and software development and conversion.