Office of Court Administration Requests $99M IT Budget for 2026-27

The Office of Court Administration (OCA) has requested a $99 million budget for information resources in its Fiscal Year 2026-27 legislative appropriations request (LAR).

According to the request, the agency requires $81.5 million for IT strategy expenses, $16 million for IT exceptional items and $1.3 million for IT capital budget items.

Most of the agency’s IT strategy funds, about $74 million, are to be reserved for operating expenses. Its second largest expense is $5.2 million for salaries and wages, followed by $1.6 million for professional fees and services.

IT exceptional items of note in the agency’s request include:

• $11.9 million to replace the Texas appellate case management system
• $3.9 million for a specialty court case management system
• $52,000 for improving data reporting accuracy

The agency’s $1.3 million capital budget request includes $956,000 for computer hardware and software acquisitions and $351,000 for computer equipment for the IV-D courts.

The request is approximately $8.2 million less than OCA was granted for equivalent items in the General Appropriations Bill (HB 1) for FY 24-25.

Previously, the agency was granted $6 million for legacy modernization and $2.2 million for a network refresh.