Legislature(2005 - 2006)SENATE FINANCE 532
02/15/2006 09:00 AM Senate FINANCE
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB209 | |
| SB210 | |
| SB237 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | SB 209 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 210 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 237 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 237(JUD)
"An Act increasing the number of superior court judges
designated for the third and fourth judicial districts to
provide additional superior court judges at Anchorage, Palmer,
Kenai, and Fairbanks; and providing for an effective date."
This was the first hearing for this bill in the Senate Finance
Committee.
Co-Chair Wilken moved to adopt committee substitute, Version 24-
GS2077\F as the working document.
There being no objection, the Version "F" committee substitute was
ADOPTED as the working document.
Co-Chair Green pointed out that the original version of this bill
solely addressed increasing the number of superior court judges.
The Version "F" committee substitute would expand the bill to
address the compensation of justices and judges. Currently the
salaries of judges are ranked 47th in the nation.
10:50:32 AM
SUSAN PARKS, Deputy Attorney General, Criminal Division, Office of
the Attorney General, Department of Law, reviewed the history of
the bill. After visiting various judges throughout the State, the
State's Attorney General "was struck by consistently hearing how
the criminal justice system seemed to be getting bogged down."
Cases were taking a long time to get to trail due to insufficient
amounts "of judge time" or "courtroom time to keep the process
moving." The Attorney General subsequently met with the Alaska
Court System, the Governor's Office, and the Commissioner of the
Department of Administration, who supervises the Public Defender
Agency (PDA) and the Office of Public Advocacy (OPA). The request
for additional Superior Court Judges was the result of that
meeting.
Ms. Parks noted that the original version of this bill requested
four additional Superior Court Judges; however the increase of six
judges, as proposed in Version "F", is agreeable to the Alaska
Court System.
Ms. Parks noted that a multitude of factors have impacted the
processing of criminal cases. Cases have become more complex, more
parties are involved, and new technology and increased expert
testimony have served to slow down the pretrial process. In
addition, the number of crimes being prosecuted has increased. Over
the past decade, felony referrals have increased 64-percent whereas
misdemeanor referrals have only increased 15-percent. The increase
in felony crime "coupled ? with the increased complexity" involved
in getting these cases to trail" has contributed to the current
situation.
Ms. Parks noted that the Palmer Court System has been identified as
the number one priority. A "crime explosion" has accompanied "the
population explosion" in Palmer. In the year 2002, the Palmer Court
System experienced 595 felony referrals; there were 869 felony
referrals in the year 2005. Caseloads continue to increase. Due to
the increase, night and weekend courts have been added in order to
accommodate the caseload. "Cases are taking an incredible amount of
time to get to trial." An increase in bigger and more complex cases
such a homicides has exacerbated the problem. She noted that
additional information could be provided. She also noted that
Anchorage has 279 felony cases "pending trial, 82 of which are over
a year old". Of the total trials pending, 28 are murder cases. The
delay being experienced is an indicator that "the system isn't
serving the public, it isn't serving victims?"
Senator Olson, referencing language in Sec. 6 page 2, lines 27
through 31, asked for further information about which districts
would be receiving additional judges.
Ms. Parks responded that "certain areas of the State" have not been
as affected by caseload increase as others. The increased criminal
load is being experienced in more populated, urban areas.
Senator Hoffman noted that during a recent presentation to the
Legislature, the State's Chief Justice stated that even though the
number of judges specified for the Bethel Court District has been
increased, the Court System has been unable to fill positions due
to the salary being offered. To that point, he asked whether that
issue would be addressed by this legislation, as otherwise that
position might remain vacant. The Bethel Court has a backlog of
cases.
CHRIS CHRISTENSEN, Deputy Administrative Director, Office of the
Administrative Director, Alaska Court System agreed "that Bethel is
a tremendous problem".
10:57:20 AM
Mr. Christensen stated that the judge position has been vacant for
nine months, and could be vacant for as long as two years. Judges
from Fairbanks are currently on rotation to Bethel in order to
address the Bethel cases. In addition, two judges "have been asked
to come out of retirement in order to each spend one or two weeks a
month in Bethel. The rotation of judges "is not good for the
community."
Mr. Christensen stated that the determination is that the
difficulty in hiring a judge for the Bethel Court is due to the
salary being offered. "Rural judges get a dramatically lower
geographic adjustment than any other State employee. The geographic
adjustment is so low in fact that judges in Rural Alaska are not
even the highest paid government lawyers anymore." For example,
last year in Nome, the local district attorney made $20,000 a year
more than the local Superior Court judge. Until approximately 1990,
those judges were paid the same as federal district judges. Now
those State judges are making 40 percent less than the federal
judges. This is not conducive to attracting judges to the area.
Mr. Christensen stated that this bill would provide salary
adjustments for State judges. While it would make a State Supreme
Court judge's salary comparable to a federal District Court judge,
a State Superior Court Judge's salary would not be increased to
that level. Nonetheless, the proposed salary schedule would "go a
long way" to addressing the issue not only in Rural Alaska, but
Statewide.
Senator Dyson asked the percentage of a Superior Court judge's
caseload related to civil cases.
Mr. Christensen responded that approximately 25 percent of the
current caseloads are felonies, five percent relate to juvenile
delinquency matters; "everything else would be technically civil
cases". 25 percent of those would be family law cases such as
divorces and custody issues.
10:59:52 AM
Co-Chair Wilken affirmed that the Fairbanks Court System does
support Bethel.
Co-Chair Wilken, voicing support for the legislation, recalled that
a similar discussion had occurred the previous Session in regards
to the difficulty in recruiting State Department Commissioners.
Subsequently the salary range for those positions was increased.
The issue now would be to address judiciary needs. To that point,
he would be "prepared" to fund this endeavor by decreasing other
operating budget components.
11:00:49 AM
Senator Stedman characterized himself as being "more cautious than"
Co-Chair Wilken. In order to better understand the overall impact
of the legislation, he suggested that the Department of
Administration should provide a fiscal note pertaining to the PDA
and the OPA. The Department of Public Safety should also provide a
fiscal note.
Senator Stedman stated that this legislation would pertain to two
issues: one being the increase in the number of judges and the
other being the salary adjustments. There is "a definite need for
the salary adjustments."
Senator Stedman stated that, with the adoption of SB 141 the
previous Legislative Session, a determination should be made as to
whether this and other similar legislation would be subject to
actuarial analyses, as he anticipated that the adoption of this
legislation would impact the State's retirement system. The issue
should be addressed in order to avoid conflict with SB 141
provisions.
Senator Stedman also voiced concern in regards to "the timing" of
the FY 07 budgets, specifically the operating budget. Additional
positions would be added when there are already several vacant
ones. The adoption of this and similar legislation would impact the
FY 07 budget. He acknowledged Co-Chair Wilken's comment that the
funds needed for these salary increases could be derived by
decreasing funds to other components in the Operating Budget.
11:03:23 AM
Co-Chair Green asked whether funding for the Kenai Courthouse
expansion was requested in the FY 07 Capital Budget.
Mr. Christensen indicated that it was not.
11:03:58 AM
Ms. Parks remarked that the act of increasing the number of judges
would not result in an increase of Court cases. While the workload
would not increase, there would be additional expenses associated
with the increase in the number of courtrooms that would be
operated. Nonetheless, there would be an increase in efficiencies.
Expenses are incurred each time a case is postponed: the attorney
must revisit the information each time and witnesses must be re-
contacted.
11:04:50 AM
Senator Hoffman asked the status of the Courthouse expansions that
had been authorized the previous year, as he understood that
construction costs had increased dramatically.
Co-Chair Green confirmed that there "certainly have been cost
overruns in the bids". This issue would be re-addressed as the
budgets are being developed.
Co-Chair Green also noted that the fiscal notes requested by
Senator Stedman would be developed and that other matters requiring
clarification would be addressed.
AT EASE 11:06:28 AM / 11:06:37 AM
Co-Chair Green ordered the bill HELD in Committee.
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