Legislature(1999 - 2000)
01/20/1999 01:35 PM House JUD
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
JOINT MEETING
HOUSE JUDICIARY STANDING COMMITTEE
SENATE JUDICIARY STANDING COMMITTEE
January 20, 1999
1:35 p.m.
HOUSE MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Pete Kott, Chairman
Representative Joe Green
Representative Jeanette James
Representative Eric Croft
Representative Lisa Murkowski
Representative Beth Kerttula
SENATE MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Robin Taylor, Chairman
Senator Rick Halford, Vice-Chairman
Senator Dave Donley
Senator John Torgerson
Senator Johnny Ellis
HOUSE MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Norman Rokeberg
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
CONFIRMATION HEARING:
Select Committee on Legislative Ethics
Curt D. Wallace
H. Conner Thomas
- CONFIRMATIONS ADVANCED
PREVIOUS ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
CURT D. WALLACE, Appointee
to Select Committee on Legislative Ethics
240 Eisenhower Lane
Kenai, Alaska 99661
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on his confirmation.
H. CONNER THOMAS, Appointee
to Select Committee on Legislative Ethics
P.O. Box 865
Nome, Alaska 99762
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on his confirmation.
SUSIE BARNETT, Staff
to Select Committee on Legislative Ethics
P.O. 101468
Anchorage, Alaska 99510
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on confirmations.
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 99-1, SIDE A
Number 0001
CHAIRMAN PETE KOTT AND CHAIRMAN ROBIN TAYLOR called the joint House
and Senate Judiciary Committee meeting to order at 1:35 p.m. Curt
D. Wallace was called to testify on the sole order of business
before the committee, that being the confirmation hearing to the
Select Board of Legislative Ethics. Chairman Kott also informed
the committee that Ms. Susie Barnett, staff to the select Committee
on Legislative Ethics, would be on teleconference and available to
answer questions.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR asked Mr. Wallace for an opening statement. Mr.
Wallace said he thought serving on the committee would be a good
experience for him and he believed he could do a good job.
Chairman Taylor opened the floor to questions.
Number 0098
REPRESENTATIVE GREEN asked Mr. Wallace why he would like to serve
on this committee which is often confronted by difficult issues and
diverse personalities. Mr. Wallace said he sees it as a valuable
community service and someone has to do it. Representative James
commended him for his willingness to do this tough job.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR asked Mr. Wallace how long he has been in the state
and what his experience has been during that time. Mr. Wallace
replied he went to high school and college in state and has worked
at the University of Alaska for the last ten years. Mr. Wallace
added he believes this job will require a fair, nonpartisan
evaluation of the issues to ensure the state is conducting its
business in an open, ethical manner consistent with avoiding any
appearance of impropriety.
Number 0350
REPRESENTATIVE GREEN remarked that most ethics cases involve some
degree of error as well as culpability. He asked if Mr. Wallace
would consider extenuating circumstances in some cases or if he
would rigidly follow the letter of the law. Mr. Wallace indicated
he would be willing to consider extenuating circumstances.
REPRESENTATIVE KERTTULA asked Mr. Wallace if he has ever served on
any decision-making bodies before and he replied he has not.
SENATOR TORGERSON inquired as to Mr. Wallace's qualifications for
this position and Mr. Wallace reported that he is familiar with
ethical procedures and the need to avoid even an appearance of
impropriety.
Number 0600
CHAIRMAN KOTT asked Mr. Wallace if he had ever been arrested and
Mr. Wallace replied he has not.
REPRESENTATIVE MURKOWSKI asked Mr. Wallace to describe the type of
dispute resolution experience he had indicated on his resume. Mr.
Wallace explained he dealt with unsuccessful vendors who had put in
a bid with the University and wanted further explanation.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR thanked Mr. Wallace on behalf of the committee.
Number 0750
SENATOR TORGERSON moved Mr. Wallace's name be forwarded to the full
Senate with a letter of non-objection. Without objection, the
motion passed.
REPRESENTATIVE GREEN moved Mr. Wallace's name be forwarded to the
full House with a letter of non-objection. Without objection, the
motion passed.
SENATOR TORGERSON asked Ms. Barnett about the number of seats
available for each political party. Ms. Barnett replied the law
requires no more than two members of the same party serve on the
committee at any given time. She explained that there are two
Republicans on the panel now and one person who is Undeclared.
Number 0960
REPRESENTATIVE CROFT asked Mr. Wallace's party and Mr. Wallace
confirmed he is Undeclared.
MR. CONNOR THOMAS, the other candidate, reported to the committee
that he had no independent interest in serving on the ethics panel;
he was simply contacted by his local Superior Court Judge. Mr.
Thomas said sitting on the committee would be a community service
and he was willing to serve his time.
CHAIRMAN KOTT asked about Mr. Thomas' party affiliation and Mr.
Thomas disclosed he is a Democrat.
Number 1108
CHAIRMAN KOTT also asked Mr. Thomas if he has ever been arrested
and Mr. Thomas remarked he has not.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR noted that Mr. Thomas is an attorney and asked him
if he has any specific training or experience in the field of
ethics. Mr. Thomas said ethics is a consideration in criminal
defense but not on par with this panel. Chairman Taylor asked more
specifically about conflict-of-interest and Mr. Thomas replied he
does use discretion as well as the professional rules of
responsibility in both criminal and civil cases he encounters.
Number 1280
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR expressed concern with the perception of ethics
violations, especially conflicts-of-interest. He asked Mr. Thomas
if he sees a difference between the types of ethics decisions he
has to make as an attorney and the decisions made by Legislators.
Mr. Thomas said he always errs on the side of caution but
Legislators are more likely to be constrained by the letter of the
law.
Number 1395
REPRESENTATIVE GREEN noted Mr. Thomas's background is primarily as
a defense attorney and asked him if he could be objective in his
analysis. Mr. Thomas affirmed he would approach every case
individually and objectively, as he did when he served as a
magistrate.
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES commented that she has never been able to
understand how defense attorneys can represent guilty clients. She
said it seems you just have to accept it as your assignment. Mr.
Thomas repeated his belief that he can approach things fairly and
stated he has no personal agenda on this committee.
REPRESENTATIVE GREEN asked Mr. Thomas' feelings on the
accountability of political figures as compared to the general
public. Mr. Thomas replied it is important for the public to
perceive that the legislative process is fair. A loss of public
faith in the process results in decreased public participation and
for this reason Mr. Thomas indicated the standard for the
Legislature should be higher than that of the general public.
Number 1725
SENATOR HALFORD asked if Mr. Thomas believes the right to serve in
public office is significant enough to require due process when
attempting to remove from a person from office. Mr. Thomas said he
is not yet familiar with the legislative ethics code but he does
feel due process should apply. Senator Halford asked more
specifically about the protections an accused person receives and
the standard of proof that should be used in these cases. Mr.
Thomas was not able to answer with certainty but he expressed that
a severe sanction should require a high standard like "reasonable
doubt" and a less significant sanction might require a lesser
burden of proof.
SENATOR TORGERSON noted there is already an attorney on the
committee and wondered if the addition of another attorney might be
difficult and cause the committee to be come bogged down in legal
argument. Mr. Thomas hoped that would not be the case.
Number 2010
REPRESENTATIVE CROFT asked about Mr. Thomas' duties as a magistrate
and any parallels he might see between that work and membership on
the ethics committee. Mr. Thomas explained being a magistrate in
Nome entails doing arraignment work, hearing misdemeanor trials,
handling children's matters and issuing search warrants. Mr.
Thomas indicated he was also the coroner at that time.
SENATOR DONLEY commented that in the past the committee has
misinterpreted the legislative intent behind the ethics statutes.
He asked if Mr. Thomas would use his own judgement to interpret the
statutes or if he would defer to past decisions. Furthermore, he
asked if Mr. Thomas were to use his own judgement, would it be
guided by legislative intent. Mr. Thomas said he would make an
effort to use his own judgement, but would defer to the Legislature
as to their intent. He also stated he would not ignore precedents,
nor would he be bound by them. Senator Donley reiterated that the
powers of the ethics committee stem from the Legislature.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR mentioned that Mr. Thomas, as a member of the
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) appears to be concerned about
civil liberties. Chairman Taylor encouraged Mr. Thomas to review
the rights and responsibilities of both members of the legislature
and the ethics committee. Chairman Taylor expressed it is with a
great leap of faith that legislators entrust the ethics committee
with their civil liberties. Chairman Taylor said he would
appreciate it if Mr. Thomas would correspond with the committee and
share his thoughts on the system in which this Select Committee on
Legislative Ethics operates. Mr. Thomas agreed he would correspond
with Chairman Taylor within the next year.
Number 2360
SENATOR TORGERSON moved Mr. Thomas' name be forwarded to the full
Senate with a letter of non-objection. Without objection, the
motion passed.
REPRESENTATIVE GREEN moved Mr. Wallace's name be forwarded to the
full House with a letter of non-objection. Without objection, the
motion passed.
ADJOURNMENT
CHAIRMAN KOTT AND CHAIRMAN TAYLOR adjourned the joint House and
Senate Judiciary Standing Committee meeting at 2:21 p.m.
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