Pennsylvania Code
Title 204 - JUDICIAL SYSTEM GENERAL PROVISIONS
Part V - PROFESSIONAL ETHICS AND CONDUCT
Subpart A - PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY
Chapter 81 - RULES OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT
Subchapter C - MINOR JUDICIARY INTEREST ON TRUST ACCOUNTS
Section 81.301 - Minor Judiciary Interest on Trust Accounts Program

Universal Citation: 204 PA Code § 81.301

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 44, November 2, 2024

(a) All Qualified Funds received by a judge, magistrate or Magisterial District Judge (hereinafter Judicial Official) in the administration of his/her duties shall be placed in a Minor Judiciary Interest on Trust Account (hereinafter MJ-IOTA Account) as defined in paragraph (c) below; such Qualified Funds placed in MJ-IOTA Accounts are referred to hereinafter as MJ-IOTA Funds. This rule does not change existing practices with respect to funds (other than Qualified Funds) received by a Judicial Official in the administration of his/her duties.

(b) Qualified Funds are monies received by a Judicial Official in a Custodial Capacity that, in the Good Faith judgment of the Judicial Official are nominal in amount or are reasonably expected to be held for such a short period of time that sufficient income will not be generated to justify the expense of earning income to benefit the owner of the funds.

(c) An MJ-IOTA Account is an unsegregated interest-bearing account with a Depository Institution for the deposit of Qualified Funds maintained by a Judicial Official. An account shall not be considered an MJ-IOTA Account unless the Depository Institution at which the account is maintained shall:

(1) Remit monthly any income earned on the account to the Interest on Lawyers Trust Account Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania (hereinafter the IOLTA Board), or if that is not possible, remit the income earned at least quarterly.

(2) Transmit to the IOLTA Board with each remittance a statement showing not less than the following information: the name of the account; the account number; the service charges and/or fees deducted, if any; the amount of income remitted from the account; and if available, the average daily collected balance in the account for the period reported.

(3) Compute the rate of interest or dividend paid on an MJ-IOTA Account at no less than the highest rate of interest or dividend generally available from the Depository Institution to non-MJ-IOTA customers when the MJ-IOTA Account meets the same minimum balance or other account eligibility qualifications.

(4) Collateralize the account with the assets of the Depository Institution in accordance with current practice and Act 72 of 1971.

(d) The MJ-IOTA Program shall be administered by the IOLTA Board. Disbursement and allocation of MJ-IOTA Funds shall be subject to the prior approval of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania (hereinafter the Court). A copy of the IOLTA Board's proposed annual budget will be provided to the Court, designating the uses to which MJ-IOTA funds are recommended. The IOLTA Board shall submit to the Court a copy of its audited statement of financial affairs, clearly setting forth in detail all funds previously approved for disbursement under the MJ-IOTA Program.

Income earned on MJ-IOTA Accounts may be used only for the following purposes:

(1) educational legal clinical programs and internships administered by law schools located in Pennsylvania, with emphasis given to providing grants to these programs such that the total funding they receive from the IOLTA Board is relatively stable and reasonably predictable from year to year in accordance with the allocation plan approved by the Court:

(2) delivery of civil legal assistance to the poor and disadvantaged in Pennsylvania by non-profit corporations described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended; and

(3) administration and development of the MJ-IOTA Program in Pennsylvania.

(e) The IOLTA Board shall hold the beneficial interest in MJ-IOTA Funds. Monies received in the MJ-IOTA Program are not state or federal funds and are not subject to Article VI of the Act of April 9, 1929 (P. L. 177, No. 175) known as the Administrative Code of 1929, or the Act of June 29, 1976 (P. L. 469, No. 117).

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