00                       CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 129(JUD)                                                                   
01 "An Act relating to information on judicial officers seeking retention in office."                                      
02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                                
03    * Section 1. AS 15.58.030(g) is amended to read:                                                                   
04            (g)  Not [NO] later than August 7 of the year in which the state general                                 
05       election will be held, a person seeking retention in office as a justice or judge may file                        
06       with the lieutenant governor the following information, not to exceed 300 words:                              
07                 (1)  a photograph;                                                                              
08                 (2)  information regarding the residency of the justice or judge;                                   
09                 (3)  information regarding the military service of the justice or                                   
10       judge;                                                                                                        
11                 (4)  information regarding the professional activities of the justice                               
12       or judge, including public outreach and administrative activities;                                            
13                 (5)  any additional information that the justice or judge would like                                
14       published to support the justice's or judge's [AND A STATEMENT                                                
15       ADVOCATING THE] candidacy.                                                                                        
01    * Sec. 2. AS 15.58.050 is amended to read:                                                                         
02 Sec. 15.58.050. Information and recommendations on judicial officers. Not                                           
03 [NO] later than August 7 of the year in which the state general election will be held,                                  
04 the judicial council shall file with the lieutenant governor a statement including                                      
05 information about each supreme court justice, court of appeals judge, superior court                                    
06 judge, and district court judge who will be subject to a retention election. The                                        
07 statement must [SHALL] reflect the evaluation of each justice or judge conducted by                                 
08 the judicial council according to law and, except for information required by law to                                
09       be kept confidential, must contain, in fewer than 1,200 words total,                                          
10 (1)  for a superior court judge or district court judge subject to                                                  
11       retention,                                                                                                    
12 (A)  a statement written by the judge, not to exceed 150                                                            
13            words, describing the professional philosophy of the judge;                                              
14 (B)  a description of the judicial, legal, or other education of                                                    
15            the judge;                                                                                               
16 (C)  a description of the business experience of and                                                                
17            professional positions held by the judge in the preceding 10 years;                                      
18 (D)  a list of service organizations with which the judge is                                                        
19            affiliated;                                                                                              
20 (E)  if applicable, ratings of the judge by law enforcement                                                         
21            officers, attorneys, court system employees, and jurors;                                                 
22 (F)  the number of decisions by the judge that were                                                                 
23 reviewed and disposed of by a written decision of an appellate court and                                            
24 the percentage of issues in those decisions that were affirmed by the                                               
25            appellate court;                                                                                         
26 (G)  a description of any public disciplinary proceedings                                                           
27            against the judge;                                                                                       
28 (H)  a self-assessment by the judge, not to exceed 250 words,                                                       
29 evaluating the judge's judicial performance; a self-assessment under this                                           
30 subparagraph may include comments on the judge's satisfaction with the                                              
31 judge's judicial role, specific contributions to the judiciary or the field of                                      
01            law, growth in legal knowledge and judicial skills, or other measures of                                 
02            judicial abilities that the judge believes to be important;                                              
03                 (2)  for a supreme court justice or court of appeals judge subject to                               
04       retention, the information required under (1)(A) - (E), (G), and (H) of this                                  
05       subsection;                                                                                                   
06                 (3)  for a justice or judge standing retention for the first time, a                                
07       description of                                                                                                
08                      (A)  previous political and governmental positions held by                                     
09            the justice or judge, including any political office held;                                               
10 (B)  the justice's or judge's primary practice areas before                                                         
11 appointment, including the approximate percentage of the justice's or                                               
12            judge's pre-appointment career spent as a trial lawyer;                                                  
13 (C)  the types of clients the justice or judge represented                                                          
14 before appointment [SHALL CONTAIN A BRIEF STATEMENT                                                                 
15 DESCRIBING EACH PUBLIC REPRIMAND, PUBLIC CENSURE, OR                                                                    
16 SUSPENSION RECEIVED BY THE JUDGE UNDER AS 22.30.011(d)                                                                  
17 DURING THE PERIOD COVERED IN THE EVALUATION. A                                                                          
18            STATEMENT MAY NOT EXCEED 600 WORDS].