Legislature(2023 - 2024)BUTROVICH 205
01/25/2023 01:30 PM Senate JUDICIARY
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| Audio | Topic |
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| Start | |
| Presentation: Alaska Court System Report on Operations | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE JUDICIARY STANDING COMMITTEE
January 25, 2023
1:32 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Matt Claman, Chair
Senator Jesse Kiehl, Vice Chair
Senator James Kaufman
Senator Cathy Giessel
Senator Donald Olson
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION(S): ALASKA COURT SYSTEM REPORT ON OPERATIONS
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
NANCY MEADE, General Counsel
Administrative Offices
Alaska Court System
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Delivered the report on the Alaska Court
System operations.
ACTION NARRATIVE
1:32:22 PM
CHAIR MATT CLAMAN called the Senate Judiciary Standing Committee
meeting to order at 1:32 p.m. Present at the call to order were
Senators Kiehl, Olson, Kaufman, Giessel and Chair Claman.
^PRESENTATION: Alaska Court System Report on Operations
PRESENTATION: ALASKA COURT SYSTEM REPORT ON ITS OPERATIONS
1:33:02 PM
CHAIR CLAMAN announced the committee would hear a report from
the Alaska Court System about its operations.
1:33:28 PM
NANCY MEADE, General Counsel, Administrative Offices, Alaska
Court System (ASC), Anchorage, Alaska, described the
organization and operations of ACS.
MS. MEADE stated that ACS is organized into four judicial
districts. Each district has one presiding judge for the trial
courts. The presiding judges sit in Juneau, Kotzebue, Anchorage,
and Bethel. The court system has four levels of courts including
trial and superior courts. The trial courts encompass 20
district judges in 7 locations. The superior court has 45 judges
in 15 locations. The legislature sets the number of Superior
Court judges by statute and the legislature is charged with
adding judges. District judges are set by Court Rule and are
placed in areas requiring the targeted support.
MS. MEADE continued that a dissatisfaction with trial court
decisions led to appeals. The court of appeals and its four
judges handle criminal matters exclusively, including
delinquency and post-conviction relief (PCR) proceedings. In
2020, the legislature authorized the fourth court of appeals
judge. She explained that the fourth judge addressed the backlog
of cases. She stated that the supreme court is comprised of five
justices. Most criminal cases do not make it to the supreme
court. One can petition the supreme court to take a criminal
case, however that is uncommon. In addition to the district,
superior, court of appeals and supreme court, ACS has 38
magistrate judges. Magistrate judges are hired directly by ACS
to serve in the larger courts. Some judges travel a circuit.
Alaska has 40 different court locations covered by a judicial
officer including a magistrate judge. The magistrate judges hear
minor offenses including misdemeanors, emergency hearings and
early felony cases before going to the superior court system.
MS. MEADE continued that ACS has 772 total positions
representing 1.5 percent of the state budget. Mr. Doug Wooliver
would discuss the budget in future hearings. She mentioned that
ACS does not retain collected funds such as filing fees or
fines; all go to the General Fund. In FY22, ACS contributed $7.5
million to the General Fund.
1:40:25 PM
MS. MEADE reminded the committee that ACS exists as a separate
branch of government and does not have authority to pass
regulations (substantive law authorized by statutes). The
supreme court instead passes Court Rules. She referred to the
Alaska Rules of Court, an annual publication. She continued that
ACS has a robust system for amending and adopting rules. The
supreme court appoints seven Rules committees with substantive
law experts. The Court Rules function in lieu of regulations.
She noted that the legislature retains the ability to change
Court Rules under the constitution with a two-thirds vote. That
occurred when a substantive law change incidentally touches a
procedure.
1:43:21 PM
CHAIR CLAMAN asked about the four judges on the court of
appeals. Do they each hear every case? He wondered about the
five Supreme Court Justices and their process for hearing cases.
MS. MEADE replied that the court of appeals requires three
judges to sit on any case panel. The odd number of judges enable
a fair vote in cases with split decisions. The case load is
evenly distributed.
She continued that all five Supreme Court Justices sit on all
cases. Justices and judges may recuse themselves from any matter
where a conflict of interest existed. A judge may be recused,
and less than five Justices might precede on a given case.
1:45:39 PM
MS. MEADE directed attention to the three pie charts on a
handout labeled: "FY 22 Trial Court Case Filings Statewide." The
document exemplified the superior and district court's separate
and combined areas of responsibility. She pointed out the
superior and district courts combined pie chart (top of page),
depicting 47 percent minor offences, 23 percent criminal, 27
percent civil and 3 percent children's filings in FY22. Most
minor offenses were traffic related and the filing process was
largely automated.
1:47:25 PM
MS. MEADE continued to discuss the pie charts. The lower two
charts depict superior court and district court filings. The
superior court is the court of general jurisdiction consisting
of 45 judges. A Superior Court Judge can hear any dispute
including civil, criminal, minor offenses and those involving
children. The district court is a subset of superior court
jurisdiction. The superior court filings consist of 30 percent
felonies, 10 percent child in need of aid (CINA), 16 percent
domestic relations and 31 percent probate. The superior court
has exclusive power over domestic relations, CINA and probate
cases.
1:49:46 PM
MS. MEADE explained that the district court, with its 20 judges,
handles minor offenses. The vast amount of time spent in court
addresses misdemeanors including driving under the influence
(DUI) and property crimes. She highlighted the civil protective
orders and small claims portions of the workload.
1:51:15 PM
MS. MEADE noted a backlog in criminal cases that began during
the Covid-19 pandemic. She stated that ACS addressed the backlog
by making additional judicial officers available. She wished to
speak further about the resolution of criminal cases.
1:52:10 PM
CHAIR CLAMAN asked about the backlog at the time of the
recording versus one year prior.
MS. MEADE replied that ACS viewed the backlog as the number of
pending cases. She opined that the timeframes required to
complete these cases varied. She spoke to the importance of
criminal case resolution. Most criminal cases resolve
immediately or within three months.
CHAIR CLAMAN asked for updated statistics related to the
criminal case backlog.
MS. MEADE responded that in 1/1/22 there were 19,620 pending
cases (felonies and misdemeanors combined). In January of 2023,
the number was 17,700. She noted that ACS preferred faster
processing of these cases but reminded that the pandemic led to
some deficiencies.
1:54:24 PM
SENATOR KIEHL asked about the number of pending cases before the
pandemic.
MS. MEADE replied that on 1/1/2018 there were 9,640 pending
cases. She stated that more felony cases were closed in 2022
than in 2018.
SENATOR KIEHL asked if disposed or closed meant that a verdict
was rendered, and a sentence was issued.
MS. MEADE replied that "disposed of" indicated that a case was
closed. In these cases, the person was adjudicated, verdict or
plea was entered, and the appropriate sentence was handed down.
She pointed out that less than 1 percent of misdemeanors go to a
jury trial. For felonies, 40 percent were dismissed, last year
with plea bargains. She spoke further about the process of plea
agreements. For misdemeanors, 53 percent were dismissed.
1:59:41 PM
SENATOR KAUFMAN asked about the numerical dollar value that
classified a misdemeanor.
MS. MEADE responded that civil jurisdiction has a dollar value
up to $100 thousand. With respect to criminal jurisdiction, the
distinction between a felony and misdemeanor is the punishment
set out by the legislature in statute. If the crime is
punishable by more than a year, it is considered a felony. If
the crime is punishable by a year or less, it is considered a
misdemeanor.
SENATOR CLAMAN spoke to the court's backlog. He referenced the
backlog of 17 thousand cases increasing from numbers less than
10 thousand pre-pandemic. He asked when ACS expected to close
the backlog.
MS. MEADE replied that the FY16, FY17, FY18, and FY19 case
backlog numbers were commonplace and expected. She explained
that cases were filed and closed daily. She expected cases to
settle near the 10 thousand mark again, but she was unsure about
the time required to get there.
SENATOR OLSON asked whether criminal cases always proceeded
toward a jury trial.
MS. MEADE responded that the defendant could opt for a judge-
tried criminal trial. During the pandemic, parties had the right
to ask for jury trial and a few were held when the request was
made.
SENATOR OLSON asked for the percentages of jury trials versus
judge trials.
2:04:02 PM
MS. MEADE replied that the request for a jury trial was
infrequent. She guessed five requests per year, but she offered
to provide accurate data to the committee.
SENATOR CLAMAN asked if both the prosecutor and defense must
agree to waive a jury trial or was the decision solely up to the
defendant.
MS. MEADE replied that she would provide the committee with
accurate data later.
2:05:08 PM
MS. MEADE moved to the appellate court case load which had 158
filings in FY22. The supreme court had 336 filings. She reminded
the committee that the supreme court had additional duties as
they were the administrative head of the courts.
2:06:16 PM
MS. MEADE continued that the court employed an administrative
office of 75 people, the largest segment being information
technology (IT) employees. She highlighted that ACS had a strong
self-help center. The courts provided family law self-help via
an 800-number offering procedural aid. This service offered
efficiency to citizens and the courts. She continued that
housing assistance self-help was another offering via a national
grant to help divert eviction cases and landlord/tenant
disputes. All the self-help options are available via the ACS
website. She pointed out the law libraries, open daily in some
locations. She mentioned a fiscal office for bail payments,
trust accounts and grant administration. She spoke about
restitution collection on behalf of victims.
2:09:18 PM
MS. MEADE directed attention to the data sheet: "Alaska Court
System Summary of Existing Therapeutic Courts." She detailed
that therapeutic courts existed in six different locations. The
therapeutic courts represent an alternative approach to help a
defendant through a criminal case with intensive treatment. The
defendant must opt in and plead guilty after which they enter a
structured program for 18 months with the sentence deferred with
program participation. The therapeutic court system was resource
intensive with the goal of addressing the underlying issues
leading individuals to criminality. She added that extensive
information about the therapeutic courts was available on the
ACS website.
2:11:21 PM
MS. MEADE talked about the target populations of therapeutic
courts. The Anchorage therapeutic courts were the first of its
kind. If defendants graduate from the demanding program offered
by the therapeutic courts, they recidivate at a much lower rate.
She spoke to limitations for therapeutic courts. Communities
must have adequate housing, providers and personnel available
for the participants.
2:13:11 PM
CHAIR CLAMAN asked about availability and accessibility of the
therapeutic courts.
MS. MEADE replied that it varied over the years. Currently,
Fairbanks and Anchorage wellness courts were over capacity. All
the other state therapeutic courts were under capacity. She
stated that she wanted more people enrolled in therapeutic
courts because a judge was already staffed. She indicated that
the incentive to enter therapeutic courts was low because the
program required intensive participation for 18 months or more.
Many people would prefer to spend four months in jail rather
than 18 months in the program. Additionally, not every
interested participant was deemed appropriate by the courts.
2:15:24 PM
SENATOR KAUFMAN asked a question about the capacity of the
program.
MS. MEADE provided an example about the Juneau therapeutic court
maximum capacity of 15 people. She stated that the judge had a
hearing every week with various numbers of participants.
2:16:34 PM
MS. MEADE offered to answer further committee member questions.
CHAIR CLAMAN recalled descriptions of the therapeutic courts
success rates. He wondered about further expansion of the
program.
MS. MEADE replied that ACS was always looking for new
Therapeutic Court locations, but the limiting factors of housing
and providers prevented further expansion. She noted that the
Bethel therapeutic court was eliminated due to the lack of
treatment providers. She stressed that funding was not the
issue. She declared that therapeutic court coordinators were
interested in expansion, but the limits made set-up difficult.
She spoke about the Fairbanks veterans therapeutic court, which
was a successful endeavor.
CHAIR CLAMAN wondered if the public defender and public advocate
were actively looking for candidates for the therapeutic courts.
He asked if there was a broad awareness of the option.
2:19:36 PM
MS. MEADE replied yes, there is great awareness. She stated the
defense counsel typically suggests diverting the person to the
therapeutic courts. Then the prosecutor considers the
candidate's potential fit. There is a prosecutor and public
defender dedicated to each community offering therapeutic court.
2:20:10 PM
CHAIR CLAMAN found no further questions.
2:20:42 PM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Claman adjourned the Senate Judiciary Standing Committee
meeting at 2:20 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska Court System FY22 Trial Court Case Filings Statewide 1.25.2023.pdf |
SJUD 1/25/2023 1:30:00 PM |
|
| Alaska Court System Summary of Existing Therapeutic Courts 1.25.2023.pdf |
SJUD 1/25/2023 1:30:00 PM |