E Relating to courts ARTICLE 1 - STATE FUNDING OF PROGRAMS AND JUDICIAL DISTRICTS Requiring and providing for state funding of certain district court programs and personnel including court interpreter, guardian ad litem and jury programs and in forma pauperis and certain transcript and examination costs; classifying guardian ad litem employees and coordinators and court administrators and employees in the fifth, seventh, eighth and ninth judicial districts as state employees; regulating certain guardian ad litem and interpreter expenditures; requesting the supreme court to establish a task force to study and make recommendations relating to a system for funding and administering court appointed attorney functions in civil cases, requiring a system independent from court and county administration and funding and promoting equal access to justice and representation for indigent persons, specifying certain options to be considered and requesting a report to the legislature by a certain date; transitional provisions; requesting the supreme court in consultation with the conference of chief judges to prepare a plan for state assumption of court administration costs in all judicial districts by a certain date and report results of the plan to the legislature by a certain earlier date ARTICLE 2 - TRANSFER OF FINES, FEES AND OTHER MONEY TO STATE Providing for the transfer of certain game and fish and traffic and motor vehicle law violation fines and forfeited bail money and court fees in the fifth, seventh, eighth and ninth judicial districts to the state; providing a homestead and agricultural credit aid (HACA) offset to counties for the cost of state assumption of district court costs; appropriating money to the supreme court to fund trial court expenses ARTICLE 3 - COLLECTIVE BARGAINING Excluding employees under the state court administrator from the definition of essential employee, expanding the definitions of public employee to certain court employees and of public employer to the state court administrator and the state board of public defense and defining court employee under the public employment labor relations act (PELRA), excluding court employees from bargaining; requiring the commissioner of the bureau of mediation services to assign court employee classifications; requiring the state court administrator to meet and negotiate with exclusive representatives of court employee units and assigning employee classifications to the judicial district, appellate courts and court employees professional employee units, exclusions; requiring submittal of collective bargaining agreements to the legislative coordinating commission (LCC) for information purposes; providing for employee organizations representing more than one judicial district unit and for transition to the new bargaining unit structure; providing general provisions for court employees relating to contracts, date of employment, probationary periods and wage protection; specifying certain negotiation responsibilities of the state board of public defense and the state court administrator, authorizing agreements with exclusive representatives of court employees (mk, ja)