State Senator Andrew J. Mcdonald, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, joined an overwhelming majority in the Senate last night in approving sweeping and historic changes to Connecticut's troubled probate court system.

The bill passed the senate on a 28-7 vote after passing the House of Representatives 126-19. The bill now heads to Governor M. Jodi Rell, who is expected to sign it. The new bill establishes a probate redistricting commission to develop a plan to consolidate Connecticut's probate court districts from the current 117 districts down to a minimum of 44 districts and a maximum of 50. That plan must be presented to the General Assembly and the governor for approval.

The bill makes several other changes, including eliminating the current method of compensating probate court judges (which is primarily based on the fees the court collects) and replacing it with a new system based on population and workload in which a judge's compensation will be paid directly from the probate court administration fund.