HB 83-REPEAL COLLECTION OF CIVIL LITIG. INFO  1:46:39 PM CHAIR MCGUIRE announced the consideration of HB 83. [CSHB 83(JUD) was before the committee.] 1:46:50 PM CHAIR MCGUIRE passed the gavel to Vice Chair Coghill for the hearing on HB 83. 1:46:52 PM GABRIELLE LEDOUX, Alaska State Legislature, sponsor of HB 83 introduced the legislation speaking to the following sponsor statement: HB 83 eliminates the automatic reporting of information about civil case settlements currently required by law. This bill follows the advice of the Judicial Council, which has recommended that the legislature do away with this requirement. HB 83 would provide a more targeted, less burdensome, and more cost-effective method of compiling information about the resolutions of civil court. Passing this bill would save money and time by freeing attorneys and litigants from an unnecessary and functionally useless submission of data which the Judicial Council sees no point in collecting. It is part of the job of the legislature to eliminate waste and to make government more effective. Discarding needless data collection requirements is an easy way to achieve cost-savings and streamline government. HB 83 does exactly this. I urge your support for the swift passage of HB 83. REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX said two of the fiscal notes are zero and a third reflects a $20,000 savings. 1:48:43 PM VICE CHAIR COGHILL opened public testimony. 1:49:29 PM SUZANNE DIPIETRO, Executive Director, Alaska Judicial Council, Alaska Court System, Anchorage, Alaska, reinforced the sponsor's explanation. The Judicial Council has no problem with the repeal of the requirement. She offered to answer questions. VICE CHAIR COGHILL questioned the reason for the noncompliance. MS. DIPIETRO explained that the legislation has been on the books for a number of years, but many attorneys do not comply with the reporting requirement and the statute has no enforcement mechanism. The Judicial Council has had mixed success in increasing compliance and has concluded that so few people return the questionnaires that it would be misleading to summarize the information and publish it. MICHELLE MINOR, Attorney, Law Office of Michelle V. Minor, Anchorage, Alaska, testified in support of HB 83. She has been in civil practice in Alaska for 40 years and has represented many people on civil matters that required this reporting. Her experience is that it takes from half an hour to a few hours to complete the form. The rule applies in cases where one of the litigants is pro se and she's had the court system request that she, as the prosecuting attorney, complete the report for the pro se litigant in compliance with Civil Rule 41. MS. MINOR said the purpose of the rule was served years ago and it's now time to repeal the rule and statute. VICE CHAIR COGHILL commented that it seems that the value has found its day. 1:54:36 PM KEN P JACOBUS, Attorney, Law Office of Kenneth P Jacobus, testified that he has been fighting to have this requirement removed from the statutes for some time. He related that the Alaska Judicial Council issued a report in 2001 that showed nothing unusual, but has issued no reports since then. He diligently files these reports as required by law, but many attorneys and pre so litigants do not. He pointed out that this makes criminals out of those who does not comply with the statute. VICE CHAIR COGHILL commented that this could be called the paper and scofflaw reduction act. 1:57:27 PM SARAH BADTEN, Attorney, Groh Eggers LLC, testified in support of HB 83. She agreed with the previous testimony and added her understanding that the rule was adopted to compare attorney fees on tort cases. Her practice is primarily contract law and she files a lot of suits that are dismissed once the people come in and pay what they owe. She is required to fill out the form even though the information is not reflective of any useful information for the Alaska Judicial Council or the legislature. It's time for the rule and statute to be repealed. VICE CHAIR COGHILL said the committee will take her testimony to heart and pass the bill when the committee meets its quorum requirement. He asked Senator Wielechowski if he had any questions. SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI answered no; he's convinced the rule and statute is no longer needed. VICE CHAIR COGHILL stated that HB 83 will be held in committee with public testimony open.