HB 83-JUDICIAL COUNCIL: CIVIL LITIGATION INFO  1:37:49 PM VICE CHAIR KELLER announced that the next order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 83, "An Act relating to collecting information about civil litigation by the Alaska Judicial Council; repealing Rule 41(a)(3), Alaska Rules of Civil Procedure, and Rules 511(c) and (e), Alaska Rules of Appellate Procedure; and providing for an effective date." [Before the committee was CSHB 83 (JUD), adopted 2/20/2015.] 1:38:17 PM VICE CHAIR KELLER advised that public testimony is closed and it will not be reopened unless there is a request to testify. 1:38:56 PM The committee took a brief at ease. 1:39:32 PM CLARK BICKFORD, Staff, Representative Gabrielle LeDoux, Alaska State Legislature, said CSHB 83 would repeal a 1997 law that requires civil litigation reports to the Alaska Judicial Council. He reiterated from his previous testimony that the law has been widely ignored, ineffective, and not supported by the legal community. He referred to the last hearing wherein there was a question regarding what would happen to the funds given to the Alaska Judicial Council for [reviewing the data] and preparing reports, and advised that Susanne Dipietro is on line to address that question. 1:40:53 PM REPRESENTATIVE KELLER opened public testimony. 1:41:11 PM SUZANNE DIPETRO, Executive Director, Alaska Judicial Council, Alaska Court System, stated that her research indicates there was an amount of money put in the Alaska Judicial Council's base budget, when the law was passed in 1997 or 1998, to provide the resources in order to perform the work. She explained the funds are available to be returned if the Alaska Judicial Council is no longer required to do the work. REPRESENTATIVE KELLER advised that it is out of the purview of the bill, and he is sure the information will go forward to the House Finance Committee. 1:42:18 PM CHAIR LEDOUX quiered that the money was put into the Alaska Judicial Council budget in 1997, or 1998, and one report has been prepared. MS. DIPIETRO advised three reports have been prepared. 1:42:41 PM CHAIR LEDOUX surmised it has not been a yearly report, and questioned how much money is left since the yearly reports have not been prepared. MS. DIPIETRO explained that although reports have not been prepared because the data has been ... CHAIR LEDOUX interjected that she is not blaming Ms. Dipietro for not doing the reports, she was just curious how much money is left. MS. DIPIETRO depicted that the work is still being performed in the sense of collecting the data, of which they receive a couple of forms from attorneys each day, determine if the information is correct, enter the information into the data base, and maintain the data base. The Alaska Judicial Council has daily activities in order to fulfill the requirements of the statute that do not involve report writing. 1:43:52 PM CHAIR LEDOUX asked how much money was put into the base. MS. DIPIETRO, in describing her records as spotty, said the amount was $19,200 a year. CHAIR LEDOUX deduced that putting the sporadic data that the Alaska Judicial Council has received, which appears to be relatively minimal, into the data base at a cost of almost $20,000 a year. MS. DIPIETRO stipulated that the work was not erratic, as the data is regular, and involves following up when information is incomplete or appears inaccurate with telephone calls, emails, and letters to attorneys. She highlighted that the Alaska Judicial Council is using that money to perform the work. 1:44:51 PM VICE CHAIR KELLER reiterated that the issue may be out of the purview of the House Judiciary Standing Committee. 1:45:08 PM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG moved to report the proposed CS for HB 83, Version 29-LS0410\H, Wallace, 2/5/15, from committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal note. There being no objection CSHB 83(JUD) was reported from the House Judiciary Standing Committee. 1:45:52 PM The committee took an at-ease from 1:45:52 to 1:48:02 p.m. VICE CHAIR KELLER returned the gavel to Chair LeDoux.