Use of Funds
The State Bar’s 2024 adopted budget reflects $400.9 million in total expenses. The budget for the Office of Access and Inclusion (OA&I), which includes all grant distributions made by the State Bar, comprises 60 percent of total expenses. The Office of Chief Trial Counsel (OCTC) comprises 19.2 percent of operating budget expenses. Together, these two offices comprise 79.2 percent of the State Bar’s operating budget. General Fund expenses of $118 million include $7.1 million in one-time costs.
Access & Inclusion
Chief Trial Counsel
Nondepartmental
Admissions
State Bar Court
Information Technology
General Services
Client Security Fund
General Counsel
Regulation
Professional Competence
Mission Advancement and Accountability
Human Resources
Finance
0.8%
Public Trust Liaison
0.8%
Lawyer Assistance Program
0.7%
Strategic Communications
0.5%
Administration
0.5%
Probation
0.3%
Mandatory Fee Arbitration
0.3%
Judicial Evaluation
0.2%
Executive Director
* Indirect cost reimbursement
Learn more about the expense categories in the 2024 budget below.
2024 Expense Budget & 2025-2027 Forecast
Comparison Of the Expense Budget
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2023 Budget
2024 Budget
2025 Forecast
2026 Forecast
2027 Forecast
Personnel Costs
Building Operations
Services
Grants Expenses
Supplies
Equipment
Other Expenses
Exam Related Expenses
Payouts and Reimbursements
Debt Related
Total Expenses
$106,858,681
$6,612,094
$12,964,840
$147,031,301
$750,455
$4,992,207
$1,089,085
$7,484,309
$3,586,532
$2,640,168
$294,009,672
$116,875,500
$11,069,000
$19,064,000
$231,649,000
$827,000
$7,274,500
$1,392,000
$7,591,000
$4,095,000
$1,108,000
$400,945,000
$125,408,500
$9,504,000
$12,377,000
$260,310,000
$865,000
$7,492,000
$1,431,000
$7,592,000
$4,218,000
$1,109,000
$430,306,500
$127,732,500
$9,787,000
$10,325,000
$175,788,000
$888,000
$7,713,000
$1,465,000
$7,804,000
$4,344,000
$1,109,000
$346,955,500
$129,997,500
$10,079,000
$11,149,000
$152,672,000
$911,000
$7,941,000
$1,501,000
$8,021,000
$4,475,000
$1,108,000
$327,854,500
Indirect Cost Allocation
Unlike direct costs, indirect costs are not readily identifiable with a specific operating program. Instead, they are incurred for a joint purpose that benefits more than one program. State Bar indirect costs include those related to finance, human resources, recruitment and retention, IT, and building maintenance functions.
All indirect costs are housed in the General Fund. The total amount of the 2024 indirect cost pool being allocated to program areas is $58.0 million. Indirect costs of $14.4 million are allocated from the General Fund to other funds according to a methodology that apportions indirect costs to offices and divisions based on their proportional share of head count, total expenses, or square footage occupied. The increase year over year is due to increases in personnel costs and one-time General Fund expenses. In addition, the amount of the increase may be inflated due to the fact that the State Bar has not historically trued up indirect costs at year end based on actual expenditures; the Board of Trustees Finance Committee will consider the approach to indirect cost true-up in 2024.
The tables below provide detail on both the indirect cost pool components and amounts charged to individual funds.
