Legislature(2011 - 2012)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
02/02/2011 01:30 PM Senate JUDICIARY
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB31 | |
| SB33 | |
| SB58 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | SB 58 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| = | SB 31 | ||
| = | SB 33 | ||
SB 58-INCREASING NUMBER OF SUPERIOR CT JUDGES
CHAIR FRENCH announced the consideration of SB 58 relating to
adding two superior court judges in Anchorage.
1:38:37 PM
DOUG WOOLIVER, Administrative Attorney, Alaska Court System,
stated that the court is asking for two additional superior
court judges in Anchorage. The request last year for one
additional judge was unsuccessful. In part this request reflects
the increase in case load in Anchorage since last year, but more
so the request is generated by the work associated with two
types of cases in particular.
The first are the child-in-need-of-aid (CINA) cases. Over the
last several years superior court judges in Anchorage have been
spending more time on CINA cases doing work that was previously
done by standing masters. This was better for the families, but
the cases still bounced back and forth between the standing
master and superior court judge depending on whether or not an
issue was contested.
1:41:11 PM
Under the new model the standing master takes the case
initially, but once an issue is contested the file moves
permanently to a particular superior court judge. That judge
then has that file for the life of the case. Everyone associated
with these cases agrees that they get to know the family better
under this model and the family is therefore better served. He
noted that some families come back more than once in CINA cases
and now they'll always have the same superior court judge. This
creates a better dynamic and is a more humane way to treat the
family. However, this means that a lot of the work that was done
by a standing master is now done by a sitting superior court
judge. So even though the CINA case load hasn't increased, the
amount of time judges spend on those cases has increased.
Another important change in CINA cases is that judges are
starting to have status hearings using the therapeutic court
model, which means the family comes before the court much more
frequently. He further explained that sometimes the list of
things the parent needs to do to get their child back is long;
under the old system, the judge gave the parent a list and then
the judge didn't see the parent for months. The new model sets
out important jobs for the parents during the first two weeks,
which leads to more oversight and greater success.
1:44:31 PM
MR. WOOLIVER also explained the therapeutic court model has
taught the judiciary that if you can bring people back to court
more regularly, with smaller goals each time, you will be more
successful. CINA cases also have federal government timelines,
and if the parents don't make enough progress within a certain
amount of time, the state is required to proceed with
termination of their parental rights. But, he noted, this
timeline should not be a race; the goal of the CINA statutes is
family reunification. This model is a better way to get there.
But it means more hearings and more judicial time.
1:45:12 PM
The second area that is affecting superior court workloads is
domestic relations cases where the litigant is unrepresented. He
noted that while the number of CINA cases isn't increasing, the
number of domestic relation has increased this year over last.
In these cases at least one party doesn't have an attorney over
half the time and neither party has an attorney about thirty-
eight percent of the time. For a number of reasons having no
attorneys in a divorce case creates more work for the judge.
1:46:31 PM
MR. WOOLIVER stated that some states have taken the approach of
avoiding this problem by making it difficult or impossible to
get to court without an attorney, but Alaska has taken the
approach of making the courts as accessible as possible. There
is a family law self-help center, which has been tremendously
successful; however, because of this, superior court judges now
handle a lot of domestic relations cases where the litigants are
unrepresented.
1:47:47 PM
Asking for more judges, he said, isn't the only way to address
this problem. He mentioned the new pro se settlement project the
court just started, that they are looking for federal mediation
money to help with the high conflict custody cases, and that
they have hired staff to help figure out child support awards
for pro se litigants. He explained that they are asking for more
judges at the same time that they're trying these other avenues,
but there are still many things that only a superior court judge
can do, which makes the workload in Anchorage unsustainable.
1:49:15 PM
SENATOR PASKVAN asked if in CINA cases one judge sees all the
children in a particular family, even when they're years apart.
MR. WOOLIVER responded yes, those families keep coming back
under the same case numbers, and as long as the same judge is
there that judge will hear those cases.
SENATOR PASKVAN asked if there is a procedure for a family
trying to disqualify the judge.
MR. WOOLIVER replied he would need to check to see if coming
back to court with another case in the same family would restart
the clock for a preemptory challenge.
SENATOR PASKVAN said he agrees that it's better if the judge is
familiar with the family.
MR. WOOLIVER restated that he would research the issue.
1:51:17 PM
SENATOR MCGUIRE observed that Mr. Wooliver's argument is
compelling and then asked about the gender balance on the court.
To what end have there been discussions, and is the court
looking at what other states are doing to get more women to
apply, she asked.
1:53:32 PM
MR. WOOLIVER offered to find out, and noted that Justice Fabe
does a lot of work on womens' issues.
SENATOR MCGUIRE noted that over 70 percent of court staff are
women who are in their baby-making years, and child care is a
problem. She would like to be a partner with the court system in
coming up with creative ideas to help recruit and retain women
on the bench.
CHAIR FRENCH thanked Senator McGuire for bringing up those ideas
and noted that of the 24 sitting Anchorage superior court
judges, just one is female.
1:57:03 PM
CHAIR FRENCH observed that last year the court asked for one
additional judge, which did not happen, and now it is asking for
two. He asked if the request for one more judge in Anchorage
will be an annual request.
MR. WOOLIVER responded he doesn't anticipate doing that; the
last time judges were added in Anchorage was in 2006.
CHAIR FRENCH asked if all the superior court judges in Anchorage
are operating out of the Nesbitt Court House.
MR. WOOLIVER said he isn't sure because they're in the process
of remodeling and so are in transition.
1:58:42 PM
SENATOR PASKVAN asked if there has been any analysis of having
family law matters such as divorce without children handled by
district court judges, leaving superior court judges to handle
the more significant civil issues and felony criminal issues.
MR. WOOLIVER replied not that he was aware of, but the family
law cases are the bulk of what superior court judges currently
do.
SENATOR PASKVAN noted that the highest paid and smartest judges
generally sit at the superior court level and he questions
allocating their time to dividing assets in divorce cases.
MR. WOOLIVER responded that is also a large chunk of the supreme
court cases, since everyone has the right to appeal and many do.
2:01:00 PM
SENATOR PASKVAN stated that would be another reason to have
divorce cases heard in district court, since they would then
have a mandatory right of appeal to superior court, but not to
the supreme court.
2:01:25 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI stated agreement and noted that some states
have a family court division, which is worth exploring for
Alaska.
MR. WOOLIVER offered to see if the court has considered that in
the past.
CHAIR FRENCH said he clerked in the superior court and the
difference between civil disputes and family law cases was
striking. Family law cases were emotional and time-intensive,
whereas civil cases frequently turned on technical matters of
law. Clearly, he said, the committee is interested in knowing if
additional judges are needed in order to handle family law
cases.
CHAIR FRENCH questioned why there are fiscal notes from the
probation office and the public defender when the bill adds
civil court judges.
2:04:04 PM
QUINLAN STEINER, Director, Public Defender Agency, Department of
Administration (DOA), explained that their civil division
handles CINA cases and the addition of two judges scheduling
these matters would require the agency to put more attorneys
before those judges. Even though the CINA case load isn't
increasing, they would not be able to meet the workload without
the resources, he stated.
2:04:49 PM
CHAIR FRENCH asked Ms. Levitt if she had a similar answer.
RACHEL LEVITT, Director, Office of Public Advocacy (OPA),
Department of Administration, said they would be in a similar
position, since they provide parental representation in CINA
cases when the Public Defender Agency has a conflict of
interest.
SENATOR PASKVAN calculated that the fiscal note shows $475,000
per judge per year, including all costs and said he believes
that in divorce cases with no children or assets the state has a
better use for those superior court judges.
MR. WOOLIVER offered to look at other ways of handling family
law matters.
CHAIR FRENCH closed public testimony and announced he would hold
SB 58 in committee.
2:06:38 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI noted that the state does have an
obligation to process family law cases in a timely manner and he
would be interested in looking at alternative solutions that are
more efficient. He asked if Mr. Wooliver could get back to the
committee within the next few weeks.
SENATOR MCGUIRE noted that Oregon requires mediation before
getting a divorce. The benefit to the families is that the
judges in that unit become highly trained in family law. She
also noted that training for family law judges does not exist
and there may be individuals in the community that look at
family law cases as an opportunity rather than a burden.
2:10:57 PM
CHAIR FRENCH said that Mr. Wooliver is correct; most judges
don't pine for these cases. But it could be helpful if during
the judicial selection process they recruited specifically for a
family law judge, this.
SENATOR PASKVAN observed that there is a mind-set for each area;
for instance, some people can deal with divorce but not with
criminal cases.
2:12:48 PM
CHAIR FRENCH announced he would hold SB 58 in committee.
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