03/15/2019 01:30 PM House JUDICIARY

             HB  77-NUMBER OF SUPERIOR COURT JUDGES                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
1:52:27 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR CLAMAN announced that the  final order of business would be                                                               
HOUSE BILL  NO. 77  "An Act  relating to  the number  of superior                                                               
court judges  in the third  judicial district; and  providing for                                                               
an effective date."                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
1:53:15 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  EASTMAN  asked  if   there  are  any  metrics  or                                                               
anecdotes  regarding  the  relative   busyness  of  the  judicial                                                               
districts.   He  asked  if workloads  are  fairly uniform  across                                                               
districts or if they are significantly different.                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
1:54:07 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
NANCY  MEADE,  General Counsel,  Alaska  Court  System, said  the                                                               
courts  are "relatively  of the  same busyness"  but they  do not                                                               
have the same caseloads and activity  across the state.  She said                                                               
the five busiest courts are  Anchorage, Kenai, Palmer, Fairbanks,                                                               
and Juneau.  She said Bethel is  a busy court, as is Ketchikan at                                                               
times.  She said  there is not an even number  of cases per judge                                                               
across   the  state.     She   noted  that   judges  also   share                                                               
responsibilities  and activities,  so  if one  judge  has a  long                                                               
criminal  trial, for  example, another  can  fill in.   She  said                                                               
there  is   movement  and  sharing  of   responsibilities  within                                                               
districts.                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
1:55:19 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  EASTMAN asked  for  confirmation  that the  court                                                               
system found it  easy to determine that the two  new seats should                                                               
be included in the Third Judicial District.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
MS. MEADE confirmed this.                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
1:55:53 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  CLAMAN mused  on his  experience trying  cases in  Valdez,                                                               
Cordova,  and Homer.    He  recalled how  Chief  Justice Joel  H.                                                               
Bolger, when  he was  the district court  judge in  Valdez, would                                                               
travel  to Cordova  to help  pick up  cases.   He recalled  other                                                               
examples  of  what  he  called "not  the  most  efficient  setup"                                                               
regarding judges having to travel to preside in other locations.                                                                
                                                                                                                                
1:56:45 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  STUTES moved  to report  HB 77  out of  committee                                                               
with  individual  recommendations  and  the  accompanying  fiscal                                                               
notes.  There being no objection,  HB 77 was moved from the House                                                               
Judiciary Standing Committee.