Legislature(2001 - 2002)
04/06/2001 10:05 AM Senate FIN
| Audio | Topic |
|---|
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SENATE BILL NO. 172
"An Act relating to an annual report by the court system to
the public and the legislature."
This was the first hearing for this bill in the Senate Finance
Committee.
Co-Chair Donley spoke to this Senate Finance Committee sponsored
legislation. He stated it places into statute, a provision
requiring that the Alaska Court System prepare an annual report
following certain perimeters. He qualified the Court currently does
issue an annual report, and he referenced the latest version.
However, he warned that this report is not mandatory and the Alaska
Court System could decide to discontinue issuing it at any time.
Co-Chair Donley noted this legislation would stipulate the reports
include additional information relating to the "timeliness of
decisions being made by the Judicial Branch" as well as specific
information about travel expenses and per diem for judges and
justices. He stressed the travel and per diem accountability
provision is identical to that required of legislators and
employees of the Legislative and Executive Branches.
Co-Chair Donley surmised this information would provide the public
with "valuable different information in evaluating how well the
court system is actually performing and how individual justices and
judges and courts are performing."
Senator Green asked if similar legislation passed the prior
legislative session.
Co-Chair Donley emphasized the intent of this bill is not to change
the Alaska Court System current practice with regard to the
issuance of the annual report. He noted this legislation does
require the Court to provide a copy of the reports to the Senate
Secretary and the Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives as
well be made available to the public.
Senator Green remembered legislation passed a year before allows
reports to be disseminated electronically rather then by hard copy.
Co-Chair Donley remembered discussion on the matter, but was unsure
if specific legislation passed.
Senator Austerman understood most of the information stipulated in
this bill is already provided in the report.
Co-Chair Donley stressed the annual report issued by the Alaska
Court System already contains most of the information required in
this legislation. The only exceptions, in his opinion, is the
addition of information showing the average mean, minimum and
maximum periods of time between the disposition of cases and the
issuing of a ruling classified by courts and by each justice. He
noted the current reports contain general summaries for the entire
court system of the average length of time before a decision is
rendered, but the information is not broken down to show each court
or judge.
Co-Chair Donley continued that another exception would be a
requirement that the report include information identifying how
many times a judge or justice has failed to comply with the
"warrant statutes". These statutes, he explained pertain to the
withholding of pay when decisions are not issued before a specific
deadline.
Co-Chair Donley listed the final exception as the travel and per
diem information that would be required under the bill.
Senator Austerman asked why reporting of the travel expenses and
per diem expenditures for each judge and justice is necessary.
Co-Chair Donley replied it is for the same reason that the
legislative and executive branches report annually. He expressed
it is a "good accountability measure for government" and should be
made easily available to the public.
CHRIS CHRISTENSEN, Deputy Administrative Director, Alaska Court
System, testified that the Supreme Court has issued an annual
report since shortly after statehood. He noted for the record that
the report is not produced under a statutory mandate but rather as
part of the Supreme Court's constitutional authority to administer
the Judicial Branch. In essence, he stressed, this report is "the
Supreme Court's annual message on Judicial Branch operations."
Mr. Christensen asserted, "The legislature is the best judge of the
information that it finds useful to do its job." He noted the
legislature has the authority to instruct the Alaska Court System
to provide statistics and other information about court operations,
and he assured this information would be provided.
Mr. Christensen referenced the zero fiscal note, informing that the
reporting requirement would involve information already collected
or could be easily obtained using current resources.
Mr. Christensen clarified that the document referred to as the
annual report is the Supreme Court's Message and is "akin to the
report that you as individuals and as organizations send to
Alaskans describing your operations here in Juneau." He remarked,
"Much as you are the final authority of what goes into those
reports, we believe that the Supreme Court is the final authority
on what this particular document contains."
Mr. Christensen shared with the Committee that in correspondence
between Co-Chair Donley and Chief Justice Dana Fabe in January
2001, Chief Justice Fabe committed to Co-Chair Donley that she
would "raise this issue (of including the additional information in
the annual report) with her colleges." Mr. Christensen qualified
that this information may actually be included in a separate
report, issued to the legislature and available to the public as
required in SB 172.
Co-Chair Kelly asked if Co-Chair Donley objected to the removal of
"annual" before "report" in the bill.
Co-Chair Donley did not.
Mr. Christensen pointed out that much of the information is
calculated based on the fiscal year, rather then calendar year, due
to the manner in which the Alaska Court System is funded. He stated
that most of the information stipulated in the bill could be
provided on a fiscal year basis. However, he reminded of another
statute requiring the Alaska Court System provide travel and per
diem expenditure information in a calendar-year report, which has
been submitted to the legislature every January. He stated that it
has been difficult to obtain all the information before February,
especially for travel in rural areas of the state. Because of this,
he suggested the information could be provided on either a fiscal
year basis or a calendar basis if allowed an extra 45 - 60 days to
compile the information.
Co-Chair Donley commented, "It would be nice to keep it consistent
with the reports that we already do for the Executive and
Legislative Branches, which are by calendar year." Therefore, his
first choice was for additional time for a calendar report.
AT EASE 10:19AM/10:23AM
Amendment #1: This conceptual amendment deletes "February 1" in
inserts "March 15" on page 1, line 6, deletes "an annual" and
inserts "a" on line 7, and deletes "of" and inserts "regarding" on
line 8. The amended language in Section 1 reads as follows.
Sec. 22.20310. Court system annual report. The
administrative director shall, not later than March 15 of
each year, make available to the public and file with the
senate secretary and the chief clerk of the house of
representatives a report regarding the Alaska Court
System. The report must include…
Co-Chair Donley moved for adoption.
Without objection the amendment was ADOPTED.
Co-Chair Donley offered a motion to report SB 172, 22-LS0412\F, as
amended from Committee with a zero Alaska Court System fiscal note.
It was clarified that the changes made with the amendment are not
inconsistent with the title of the bill.
The bill MOVED from Committee without objection.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|