Legislature(2023 - 2024)GRUENBERG 120
02/08/2023 01:15 PM House JUDICIARY
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Presentation(s): Civil Division Overview: Department of Law | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE JUDICIARY STANDING COMMITTEE
February 8, 2023
1:17 p.m.
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
OTHER LEGISLATORS PRESENT
Representative Jesse Sumner
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION(S): CIVIL DIVISION OVERVIEW, DEPARTMENT OF LAW
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
CORI MILLS, Deputy Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General
Civil Division
Department of Law
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Gave a presentation, an overview of the
Civil Division, Department of Law.
ACTION NARRATIVE
1:17:02 PM
CHAIR SARAH VANCE called the House Judiciary Standing Committee
meeting to order at 1:17 p.m. Representatives Carpenter,
Eastman, Gray, and Vance were present at the call to order.
Representatives C. Johnson, Groh, and Allard arrived as the
meeting was in progress.
^PRESENTATION(S): CIVIL DIVISION OVERVIEW: DEPARTMENT OF LAW
PRESENTATION(S): CIVIL DIVISION OVERVIEW: DEPARTMENT OF LAW
1:17:34 PM
CHAIR VANCE announced that the only order of business would be a
presentation, an overview of the Civil Division, Department of
Law.
1:18:03 PM
CORI MILLS, Deputy Attorney General, Office of the Attorney
General, Civil Division, Department of Law, gave a presentation,
an overview of the Civil Division, Department of Law, via a
PowerPoint presentation [hard copy included in the committee
packet]. She turned to slides 2-4, which show that within the
Department of Law (DOL) is the Criminal Division, which
prosecutes crime, and the Civil Division, which provides legal
services to state government. She discussed what makes up state
government, by showing slide 5, which lists the departments
within the State of Alaska. She explained that DOL has
attorneys that represent every state department, board,
commission, and public corporation, as well as the Division of
Elections, the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, and Office of
the Governor. She said DOL does not represent the Alaska
Railroad Corporation or the University of Alaska. She indicated
these areas of coverage by DOL are contained in Alaska Statute
under Title 11. She added that although DOL does not cover
domestic relationship-type issues, such as child custody, it
does cover child protection and child support. She listed other
examples relating to law suits to the State of Alaska wherein
DOL is involved. She said DOL keeps track of billable hours to
manage caseloads. She reported that there were over 8,000
active matters worked on by DOL over the last year.
1:22:30 PM
MS. MILLS, in response to a question from Representative
Carpenter, said some of the work is billed, while other work may
be covered by federal funds. She noted she would be talking a
lot about DOL's budget on Friday, during a Finance meeting.
MS. MILLS continued her PowerPoint presentation, noting that the
length of each matter worked on varies greatly. She reported
that last year, DOL's attorneys put in over 255,000 billable
hours. She said the department has 264 employees, but with
vacancies, the actual number working ranges from 135-140, and 80
percent are attorneys, currently 135-140. Each attorney handles
about 55 matters and bills approximately 1,800 hours a year.
This is on par with private firms, which usually require a
minimum billable hour amount of 1,900 hours.
1:25:34 PM
MS. MILLS moved on to slide 6, "Protecting Alaskans' Safety,"
which lists the core services of the Civil Division as:
protecting Alaskans' safety and financial well-being; fostering
conditions for responsible development of the state's natural
resources; protecting the fiscal integrity of the state; and
promoting good governance. Turning to slide 7, "Civil Division
Structure," she listed the following: statehood defense and
resource development; protective legal services; government
services; torts and other civil defense litigation, and legal
support services.
MS. MILLS covered the next several slides, which offer details
about the topics listed on slide 7. Slide 8, "Statehood Defense
& Resource Development," read as follows [original punctuation
provided, with some formatting changes]:
Natural Resources
Anne Nelson
Dept. of Fish & Game Represents state interests in
statehood defense, natural resource management &
development, fish & game management
Oil & Gas
Mary Gramling
Dept. of Natural Resources Dept. of Revenue Ensures
the state receives its appropriate share of O&G tax
royalties
Transportation
Max Garner
Dept. of Transportation & Public Facilities Represents
DOT&PF on construction & operation of public
facilities & development projects
Environmental
Jenn Currie
Represents the state's interest in clean water & air
matters, hazardous waste discharge cases, and cleanup
costs & recovery
1:29:57 PM
The committee took an at-ease from 1:30 p.m. to 1:32 p.m.
1:32:09 PM
MS. MILLS, in response to a question from Representative Gray,
confirmed the topic of restructuring the Civil Division would be
addressed during the aforementioned Friday Finance meeting and
would cover how the sections of the division, listed in this
presentation, would be grouped.
MS. MILLS returned to the presentation, to slide 9, "Protective
Legal Services," which read as follows [original punctuation
provided, with some formatting changes]:
Human Services
Alex Hildebrand
Dept. of Health Dept. of Family & Community Services
Protection of vulnerable adults
Child Protection
Carla Erickson
Office of Children's Services (OCS) Child in Need of
Aid (CINA)
Commercial & Fair Business
Rebecca Hattan
Professional licensing Public utilities Alcohol and
marijuana sales Child support recovery
Regulatory Affairs & Public Advocacy
Jeff Waller
Protects the Alaskan public interest in public utility
and pipeline proceedings before the Regulatory
Commission of Alaska
MS. MILLS noted that of the aforementioned 8,000 cases, 3,000
are housed in the Child Protection Section.
1:33:34 PM
MS. MILLS, in response to Co-Chair Allard, returned to slide 8
to offer further details regarding the Environmental Section.
She then returned to slide 9, "Protective Legal Services," to
finish reviewing the focus of each section.
1:40:08 PM
MS. MILLS turned to slides 10-11, "Government Services," which
read as follows [original punctuation provided, with some
formatting changes]:
Opinions, Appeals, & Ethics
Jessie Alloway
Defends the state in federal and state appellate
courts, including Child in Need of Aid (CINA) appeals
Public Corps. & Government Services
Bill Milks
Represents unique state entities like public
corporations, retirement systems, state health plans,
and the Dept. of Education & Early Development
Special Litigation
Margaret Paton-Walsh
Handles high-profile, expedited & complex litigation
Constitutional challenges & elections matters Enforces
Alaska antitrust laws
Labor & State Affairs
Rachel Witty
Governor & Lt. Governor's offices Division of
Elections Departments of: Administration, Labor &
Workforce Dev.; Military & Vet. Affairs
Legislation & Regulations
Rebecca Polizzotto
Oversees all legislative drafting, coordinates review
of proposed & enacted legislation, oversees
regulations projects for all state agencies
Professional Development & Public Service
Jessica Leeah
Oversees all internship, externship and fellowship
programs. Works on recruitment efforts and training
opportunities.
1:43:25 PM
MS. MILLS, in response to a question from Representative Gray,
said the Civil Division handles any lawsuits filed by the
governor, who consults with the attorney general before bringing
that lawsuit. Then DOL determines what legal team is
appropriate to handle the matter. She then said that under AS
44.23.020, the attorney general is charged with defending the
state in all actions, which includes state officials acting
within the scope of their employment. She noted that although
the governor is high profile, the commissioner of the Department
of Corrections gets sued "more than anyone else." There are
times when DOL determines that outside counsel is necessary, but
DOL will still manage the contract. In response to a follow-up
question, she spoke about 1986 Civil Rights Act violations.
1:46:31 PM
MS. MILLS, in response to Representative Carpenter, confirmed
that the Public Corporations & Government Services Section
represents "a piece of" [the Permanent Fund Corporation]. She
said there is a memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the
attorney general and the corporation that was established about
20 years ago that allows the corporation to have its own in-
house transaction attorney that is overseen by the attorney
general. She said DOL helps the corporation with issues such as
the Open Meetings Act that are outside of the transactional
arena.
MS. MILLS finished covering slides 10 and 11. In response to
Chair Vance, she offered her understanding that the Professional
Development & Public Service Section was initiated January 2022.
CHAIR VANCE indicated interest in hearing more about this in the
future.
REPRESENTATIVE CARPENTER suggested more detail be brought to a
budget subcommittee meeting to learn what has been successful in
order to duplicate that success elsewhere.
MS. MILLS expressed her willingness to share more information in
the future. She talked about a "great trajectory" in terms of
filling vacant positions.
CHAIR VANCE said she would extend an invitation to Ms. Mills to
come back before the House Judiciary Standing Committee to speak
more on this issue.
1:53:46 PM
MS. MILLS returned to the presentation, to slide 12, "Torts &
Other Civil Defense Litigation," which read as follows [original
punctuation provided, with some formatting changes]:
Torts
Mark Cucci
Provides advice & defense to state agencies in tort
suits
Workers' Compensation & Corrections
Mark Cucci
Defends the state as an employer in workers'
compensation claims Provides advice & defense to the
Dept. of Corrections in civil suits
MS. MILLS said [the State of Alaska] gets sued "a lot" because
it has "deep pockets." She said the department would like to
divide the two sections into their own. She said torts include
"slip and fall" cases. She said the state has a lot of
employees who file worker's compensation claims, so DOL
represents the Division of Risk Management in handling those
claims. Regarding Corrections, she noted that "inmates have a
lot of time and file a lot of complaints."
1:55:55 PM
MS. MILLS, in response to a question from Representative Allard
regarding COVID-19 mandates, said that is a policy set by the
court system; various judges in state courthouses can decide
"whether to impose that mandate."
CHAIR VANCE mentioned the court system being separate from DOL,
and she stated her intent to bring in other entities to discuss
all factors of the justice system.
1:57:14 PM
MS. MILLS returned to the presentation, to slide 13, "Legal
Support Services," which read as follows [original punctuation
provided, with some formatting changes]:
Information & Project Support
Alan Birnbaum
Advises agencies on the management, sharing,
retention, and disclosure of information
ProLaw & Admin
Alan Birnbaum
Management, training, and maintenance of statewide
data management and processing systems
2:00:04 PM
MS. MILLS, in response to a question from Representative Allard
about document requests in city councils compared to the
legislature, clarified that the legislature is under its own
discloser rules.
2:00:42 PM
MS. MILLS moved on to slide 14, "State Fiscal Preservation,"
showing examples of fiscal year 2023 (FY 23) revenue generation
and protection, which read as follows [original punctuation
provided]:
Human Services
-$2M in awards for reimbursements for Medicaid
Third-Party Liability
-$6,708 in annuity collections for TPL
-$518,629 in Medicaid Estate/Trust recovery
-$594,289 in Medicaid audit settlements and
judgements
-$333,547 in recovery of Medicaid expenditures
from post-conviction litigation
Natural Resources
-Collected $1.4M in damages associated with
sinking of Faulkner Walsh's barge The Delta Chief
Public Corporations & Governmental Services
-Obtained $25M (less attorneys' fees) in
Allianz/APFC securities fraud settlement-Saved ~$80-
86M annually in dismissal of U.S. Dept. of Education
Impact Aid action Regulatory Affairs and Public
Advocacy
-$6.2M in quantifiable consumer benefits in
FY2022 for reduction in utilities costs-An additional
$1.07M is anticipated in a pending case Environmental-
$1.8M in settlements and fines
MS. MILLS said DOL does a lot of work to bring money back into
the state.
2:02:20 PM
MS. MILLS, in response to Representative Gray, elaborated on the
topic of the $80 to $86 million saved annually. She said two
years ago the federal government changed the way it looked at
impact aid for education and started taking transportation into
account, which would potentially decrease the amount that Alaska
got. Alaska engaged with outside counsel and entered into a
negotiation with the U.S. Department of Education, wherein "they
basically backed off."
2:03:48 PM
MS. MILLS, after finishing her presentation, answered a question
from Representative Gray as to who decides whether "to fight
something" [in court]. She said it matters who DOL is
representing in any given case. If it is a quasi-independent
agency, for example, DOL will consult with them. Cases
involving departments go to the governor, she said. The
attorney general has the ultimate authority over litigation
decisions. She offered details about a particular case.
2:09:38 PM
MS. MILLS, in response to a request from Chair Vance to talk
about attorneys and contracting for services, said there are two
factors DOL considers: "Do we have the expertise in-house?" and
"Do we have the money and human resources to take on the case?"
2:12:27 PM
CHAIR VANCE requested Ms. Mills provide a list of billable hours
and attorneys to help the committee understand the big picture,
as well as know where resources are going within individual
sections of DOL.
MS. MILLS said she could do that, as well as, at the
aforementioned upcoming Finance meeting, talk about the effect
of billing to individual budgets. She said she could also
supply a list of paralegal support.
2:15:11 PM
MS. MILLS, in response to a query from Representative Allard
regarding an organizational chart, said the Civil Division has a
total of 274 employees, 148 of which are attorneys. She
suggested she could bring further information on Friday.
2:15:47 PM
MS. MILLS, in response to a question from Representative Gray
about filling vacancies, mentioned a bill that had given "the 20
percent rate," which stopped people leaving the Civil Division.
She offered her understanding that the Criminal Division would
relate a similar story.
2:16:45 PM
CHAIR VANCE thanked Ms. Mills for the presentation.
2:18:21 PM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Judiciary Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 2:18 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| Overview of DOL Civil Division.pdf |
HJUD 2/8/2023 1:15:00 PM |
Overview of DOL Civil Division |