Legislature(2023 - 2024)GRUENBERG 120
01/30/2023 01:00 PM House JUDICIARY
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Presentation(s): Report on Alaska Court System Operations | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE JUDICIARY STANDING COMMITTEE
January 30, 2023
1:00 p.m.
DRAFT
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Sarah Vance, Chair
Representative Jamie Allard, Vice Chair
Representative Ben Carpenter
Representative Craig Johnson
Representative David Eastman
Representative Andrew Gray
Representative Cliff Groh
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION(S): REPORT ON ALASKA COURT SYSTEM OPERATIONS
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
NANCY MEADE, General Counsel
Office of the Administrative Director
Alaska Court System
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Gave the presentation: Report on Alaska
Court System Operations.
ACTION NARRATIVE
1:00:10 PM
CHAIR SARAH VANCE called the House Judiciary Standing Committee
meeting to order at 1:00 p.m. Representatives Carpenter,
Eastman, Gray, Groh, Allard, and Vance were present at the call
to order. Representative C. Johnson arrived as the meeting was
in progress.
^PRESENTATION(S): REPORT ON ALASKA COURT SYSTEM OPERATIONS
PRESENTATION(S): REPORT ON ALASKA COURT SYSTEM OPERATIONS
1:01:01 PM
CHAIR VANCE announced that the only order of business would be a
presentation: Report on Alaska Court System Operations.
1:01:51 PM
NANCY MEADE, General Counsel, Office of the Administrative
Director, Alaska Court System, began the presentation: Report
on Alaska Court System Operations. She stated that Alaska has a
unified court system organized through one administrative
office. There are four judicial districts: Southeast, based in
Juneau; North, based in Kotzebue; Southcentral, based in
Anchorage; and Bethel to Fairbanks, with the presiding judge
sitting in Bethel. She named the two levels of trial courts:
district and superior. Alaska's district courts comprise 20
judges located in 7 areas; the Alaska Superior Court comprises
45 judges in 15 locations. She relayed that the Alaska Superior
Court is the court of general jurisdiction. A criminal case can
be appealed directly through a court of appeals, which has four
judges on it. She said the Alaska Supreme Court takes "appeals
of right." Sometimes a court of appeals criminal case appeal
can be petitioned to the Alaska Supreme Court. Ms. Meade said
there are 38 magistrate judges, who serve in the larger courts
and are often the only judicial officer in the small rural
courts. Mostly, they handle smaller cases.
1:06:46 PM
MS. MEADE said as a whole the Alaska Court System uses
approximately 1.5 percent of the state budget, with 772
positions. She noted that all the money collected by the Alaska
Court System, for example through filing fees and fines, gets
turned over to the state general fund (GF) for the legislature
to appropriate as it sees fit. There is an indigency provision
so that no one unable to pay a fee is turned away.
1:08:23 PM
MS. MEADE, in response to Chair Vance regarding there being
84,475 district court cases filed in fiscal year 2022 (FY 22)
[as shown on a handout, titled "Superior and District Courts
Combined," included in the committee packet], said that total is
"not abnormal." She listed the statistics shown for district
court filings [in the colored circle pie chart at the bottom-
right of the handout] as: 59 percent minor offenses; 5 percent
small claims; 9 percent civil protective orders; 6 percent
general civil; and 21 percent misdemeanors. She listed the
statistics of superior court filings, 215 total in FY 22, [the
colored pie chart at the bottom-left of the handout] as: 30
percent felonies; 10 percent Child In Need of Aid (CINA); 3
percent delinquency; 16 percent domestic relations; 10 percent
general civil; and 31 percent probate.
1:14:41 PM
MS. MEADE, in response to a question from Representative Groh
regarding turnover and lack of institutional knowledge, said the
court system has cut its staff over the years to save money, and
that can influence efficacy; however, she has not heard of case
processing having slowed as a result of a staff cut. She noted
there have been instances of not being able to hold a hearing
because a court clerk is not available.
1:17:33 PM
MS. MEADE, in response to Chair Vance, said she has not been
able to compare Alaska's court statistics with that of other
state court systems because they are too dissimilar.
1:19:04 PM
MS. MEADE, in response to Representative Allard, clarified that
there is a criminal case backlog, and there are always many
pending cases. The Alaska Court System aims for "clear and
straight," wherein the number of filings in a particular area
are equal to the number of dispositions, or closed cases, in
that area. Over the years that has been close, but the court
was not able to achieve that during the COVID-19 pandemic. In
response to a follow-up question, she clarified that the backlog
in criminal cases resulted because cases were not closing in a
typical manner. The backlog is approximately 17,000 cases,
which she said is unacceptable. Before the pandemic, the
backlog was in the range of 10,000. She clarified that the
number of pending criminal cases has increased, but it is not
due to a lack of staffing; the pandemic stalled "certain things
from happening." She noted the felony jury trial rate has
consistently been no higher than 2.5 percent; the misdemeanor
trial rate is only about 1 percent. She offered further
information regarding the possible effect of dismissals, plea
bargaining, a lack of jury trials, and not having trial dates
calendared during the pandemic. To a further inquiry, she spoke
about work done on Fridays currently, as compared to during the
pandemic. She said she could not determine the rate at which
the court would catch up, because there are so many facets
involved, but everybody is trying "to move it along."
1:27:43 PM
MS. MEADE, in response to a request from Representative
Carpenter for a pie chart with the same categories as the
filings chart but showing how long it is taking to dispose of
cases, said she does not think the Alaska Court System has data
on that. Further, she surmised it would not be that helpful
considering the varying degree of complexity or simplicity of
any particular case. She added that although cases get disposed
in a month and others in a year, the cases that get [the most
press] are "those 12 felony cases that took 5 years to get to
disposition." She offered to get the information Representative
Carpenter sought. In response to a follow-up question, she said
there were about 10,000 cases pending in 2018. She confirmed
there is definitely a delay in criminal and misdemeanor cases.
A lot of that is caused by understaffing which leads to cases
not being ready for trial. She said there are work groups
trying to figure out how to fix the backlog.
REPRESENTATIVE CARPENTER specified he is looking for data rather
than anecdotal information.
1:35:03 PM
CHAIR VANCE asked that any further detailed data be made
available to the committee. She noted she had learned that more
than 50 percent of the state's attorneys have fewer than five
years of experience; therefore, it takes longer to go through
cases.
1:36:43 PM
MS. MEADE, in response to Representative Eastman, reviewed that
on January 1, 2023, the Alaska Court System had 7,200 open
felony cases and 10,500 open misdemeanors, for a total of 17,700
open cases. In response to another question, she stated that
"the speedy trial rule" is not merely a guideline, and it is for
120 days and routinely waived by the defendant. She said she
does not know how many of the 17,700 cases were filed within the
last month, but the vast majority would be "older than four
months old." To a follow-up question, she said the court system
does not have data to answer how many of those 17,700 cases
involve "someone in pretrial custody." In response to a
question as to how many of the cases did not waive the speedy
trial rule, she stated, "If Rule 45 which is our 120-day rule
has run without the defendant waiving it, the case must be
dismissed, so virtually none." In response to being pressed to
explained "virtually," she said last year that number was one.
1:39:23 PM
MS. MEADE, in response to a question from Representative Gray
seeking the average number of cases filed and disposed weekly,
said that data is available in terms of annually. She noted
that the Alaska Court System has a robust web site to access
when she is not available to answer questions.
1:40:54 PM
MS. MEADE continued with her presentation. She reviewed the
levels of felonies and misdemeanors. She pointed out that the
Alaska Court System, unlike State of Alaska agencies, does not
have regulations, which are substantive law, but there is a
requirement under the Constitution of the State of Alaska to
adopt rules of practice and procedure. There are seven rules
created by committees made up of subject matter experts. She
also noted that the Alaska Court System has a "Self-Help Center"
where an increasing number of folks go to handle their own
cases.
1:47:23 PM
MS. MEADE, in response to Representative Carpenter, regarding
whether the recent changes to Rules 6 and 6.1 followed the
committee process, said the Alaska Supreme Court passed a
Supreme Court order passing the rule, and it recently amended
the rule with respect to grand juries, effective December 1,
2022. She said that change did not initially go through the
Criminal Rules Committee but is going through it now. She
offered further details to explain the rapidity of the Alaska
Supreme Court passing of the order. In response to a follow-up
question, she related that this procedure is found under
Administrative Rule 44, "Rule Making," in which there is an
exception.
1:50:07 PM
MS. MEADE, in response to Chair Vance, listed the various
resources the Alaska Court System makes available to the public,
including Twitter and Facebook, and including information on
small claims, guardianship, housing, and eviction diversion,
among others.
1:53:08 PM
MS. MEADE drew attention to another handout in the committee
packet, titled "Alaska Court System Summary of Existing
Therapeutic Courts." The chart shows where the courts are:
Anchorage, Palmer, Kenai, Juneau, Sitka, and Fairbanks, Alaska.
Anchorage has six types of therapeutic courts. She explained
these are an alternative approach to getting through a criminal
case with treatment; the defendant must "opt in," and then a
plea agreement is reached. The sentence is deferred; if the
person drops out, then the sentence is imposed. She offered
further details regarding the process, which takes at least 18
months. People who go through therapeutic court experiences
recidivate or reoffend at a much lower rate than people who do
not go through the program. She said it is an intense process
with a team approach. In response to Chair Vance, said she
would supply the committee with information regarding the
recidivism rate at a later date. That said, she said she has
heard that about 60 percent of people who do not go to
therapeutic courts reoffend. In response to a follow-up
question regarding capacity and there being no capacity number
for Sitka on the chart, noted that the therapeutic court in
Sitka began less than one year ago, so capacity has not yet been
set. She noted that to the surprise of many, therapeutic courts
have been undersubscribed. Currently Anchorage Wellness and
Anchorage Veteran Court are oversubscribed by a bit, while all
the others are below capacity. She explained that a lot of
defendants do not want to go through the program; they would
rather do four months in jail than to "spend 18 months under the
thumb of a probation officer and judge breathing down their
throat." The defendant needs to want to do and be ready for
this treatment. She gave examples of motivational factors for
entering the therapeutic court. In response to Chair Vance, she
speculated there may be a cost benefit study available, but she
said it is a difficult number to pin down.
2:01:14 PM
MS. MEADE, in response to Representative Eastman, clarified
there is no waiting list regarding the therapeutic courts. She
said although a couple of them are over capacity, "we are
handling it."
2:01:52 PM
MS. MEADE, in response to Chair Vance, discussed the background
regarding Fridays; in 2016 the courts cut back hours [closing at
noon on Fridays]. The savings to the state was about $2
million, and that was because all of the court's employees took
a 4 percent pay cut. A half hour was added to the schedule
Monday through Thursdays; therefore, employees were paid for 36
hours. The court had proposed this plan as a cost-saving
measure. Judges worked Fridays, she noted. She said
legislators wanted the courts to open up again on Fridays and,
thus, supplied an estimated $1 million to transition employees
back up to 37.5 hours.
2:05:24 PM
MS. MEADE, in response to Representative Allard's remarks about
a savings of $2 million versus people "lingering" in the system,
said some things are being done faster on Fridays. She
indicated that a budget committee addressing the issue would
welcome Representative Allard's excitement for [the increase
back to a 37.5-hour work week].
2:07:47 PM
MS. MEADE, in response to a request by Representative C. Johnson
for a copy of a sentencing "cheat sheet," said that is not
publicized. She explained that it is something she creates, and
which could be "wrong." She suggested Legislative Legal and
Research Services could create something similar for the
legislature.
2:09:00 PM
CHAIR VANCE indicated she could accommodate Representative C.
Johnson's request for that information.
2:09:24 PM
CHAIR VANCE expressed appreciation for the presentation.
2:10:07 PM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Judiciary Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 2:10 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska Court System FY22 Trial Court Case Filings Statewide 1.25.2023.pdf |
HJUD 1/30/2023 1:00:00 PM |
Alaska Court System FY22 Trial Court Case Filings Statewide 01.25.23 |
| Alaska Court System Summary of Existing Therapeutic Courts 1.25.2023.pdf |
HJUD 1/30/2023 1:00:00 PM |
Alaska Court System Summary of Existing Therapeutic Courts 01.25.23 |