Legislature(2005 - 2006)BUTROVICH 205
01/26/2006 08:30 AM Senate JUDICIARY
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Confirmation Hearing: James J. Fayette - Commission on Judicial Conduct | |
| Confirmation Hearing: William S.l. Walters - Alaska Public Offices Commission | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE JUDICIARY STANDING COMMITTEE
January 26, 2006
8:42 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Ralph Seekins, Chair
Senator Charlie Huggins, Vice Chair
Senator Gene Therriault
Senator Hollis French
Senator Gretchen Guess
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
Confirmation Hearings:
James J. Fayette, Commission on Judicial Conduct
CONFIRMATION ADVANCED
William S. L. Walters, Alaska Public Offices Commission
CONFIRMATION ADVANCED
Regina C. Chennault, Violent Crimes Compensation Board
SCHEDULED BUT NOT HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
None to report
WITNESS REGISTER
Mr. James J. Fayette
310 K. St. STE 308
Anchorage, AK 99501
POSITION STATEMENT: Candidate for Confirmation
Mr. William S. L. Walters
93 Roxie Road
Fairbanks, AK 99709
POSITION STATEMENT: Candidate for Confirmation
ACTION NARRATIVE
CHAIR RALPH SEEKINS called the Senate Judiciary Standing
Committee meeting to order at 8:42:12 AM. Present were Senators
Hollis French, Charlie Huggins, and Chair Seekins.
^Confirmation Hearing: James J. Fayette - Commission on Judicial
Conduct
8:42:51 AM
CHAIR SEEKINS announced the first order of business to be the
confirmation hearing of Mr. James Fayette. He asked Mr. Fayette
the reason he consented to be nominated to the position.
MR. FAYETTE described his background as a supervising prosecutor
at the special prosecutions office of the Department of Law
(DOL). Last year he was appointed by Governor Murkowski to the
Judicial Conduct Commission and that appointment requires
confirmation from the Senate. He has been a prosecutor in
Anchorage for over 16 years. He attended college and the
University of Vermont Law School on an ROTC scholarship and
served active duty at Fort Richardson primarily as the military
prosecutor. He joined the district attorney's office in 1993 and
worked there for 11 years.
8:44:47 AM
Senator Gretchen Guess joined the committee.
MR. FAYETTE handled all sorts of cases from misdemeanors to
double murders. Last year Mr. Dean Guaneli, Chief Assistant
Attorney General for the Department of Law (DOL), offered him
the special prosecution job and for the past year he has
supervised an eight-lawyer office. The office handles cases
involving police officer misconduct, public official misconduct,
white-collar crime, and specialized fraud prosecutions.
8:46:17 AM
MR. FAYETTE said he is particularly proud of a recognition award
received from Victims for Justice for his work with Anchorage
Youth Corps. He has been interested in serving on the Judicial
Conduct Commission for some time and was pleased when the Bar
Association nominated him.
The Judicial Conduct Commission is an important oversight
commission with the esteemed role to ensure public confidence in
state court judges and the judiciary and court system. It is a
nine member commission comprised of three citizens that are
appointed directly by the Governor, three judges, elected by the
state court judges themselves, and three lawyers that are
apportioned geographically.
The Judicial Conduct Commission issues formal advisory opinions
and often gives informal ethics advise to state court judges and
state court personnel. The constitution says that the Alaska
Supreme Court can discipline, retire, or censure a state court
judge on the recommendation of the Judicial Conduct Commission,
and that is its most significant function. The Commission
handles complaints against state court judges, which can range
from the mundane to the serious.
8:49:12 AM
The commissioners must be aware that judges are held to a high
level of professional conduct and there are restrictions on
their activities that other public officials don't have. The
Commission deals with a fairly complex set of rules of conduct
that aren't always clear. Judges have to be conscious of the
fact that a mere appearance of impropriety is often as bad as
the actual impropriety. Commissioners also have to be sensitive
to the ease at which a citizen can bring a merit-less complaint
against a judge. He said he believes he has the background that
will enable him to serve the Commission well. Further, he feels
it is important that the criminal section of the Alaska Bar
Association has a voice on the Judicial Conduct Commission. He
offered to answer questions.
8:53:55 AM
SENATOR HOLLIS FRENCH commented he worked in the district
attorney's office with Mr. Fayette and that Mr. Fayette was
consistently in the first rank of the prosecutors and that he
brought energy, intelligence and creativity to the job.
SENATOR CHARLIE HUGGINS asked Mr. Fayette to elaborate on the
reason he received his award from Victims for Justice.
MR. FAYETTE said while at the district attorney's office he was
assigned to the violent crimes unit. Victims for Justice had a
program of assisting homicide family survivors to court. He
interacted frequently with the Victims for Justice
representatives. What immediately led to the recognition was a
1998 shooting in Eagle River. He spent a lot of time with family
members and loved ones. The murder victim's surviving
significant other wrote a nice letter to Victims for Justice
nominating him for the annual award.
8:57:19 AM
CHAIR SEEKINS asked the process when a complaint is brought
against a judge.
MR. FAYETTE explained that any citizen could file a complaint
against a judge. The Commission is staffed by an executive
director and staff investigator. The complaint is screened
informally at first. Prior to the quarterly meeting, the
executive director provides the commissioners with that
quarter's received complaints, any underlying documents and the
executive director's quick summation of the substance of the
complaint(s). The complaints are segregated between those that
are properly before the Commission and those that aren't. The
complaint is discussed and a vote is taken on whether the
complaint is dismissed or should proceed formally. If it
proceeds, the judge might be brought in to address the
Commission. Then the matter may proceed or it may be dismissed.
9:00:11 AM
CHAIR SEEKINS asked whether there was a point at which there was
a finding of probable cause to proceed farther.
MR. FAYETTE said the complaint would proceed to formal
investigation process, which are public proceedings. That has
only happened a handful of times since statehood.
CHAIR SEEKINS asked whether the complaint that does not proceed
to formal procedures was held confidential.
MR. FAYETTE said it was a confidential matter. The reason is due
to the ease with which a complaint can be brought.
CHAIR SEEKINS asked who would be bound to the confidentiality.
MR. FAYETTE answered it would be members of the Commission and
staff.
CHAIR SEEKINS asked whether the Commission used a procedure
manual.
9:02:31 AM
MR. FAYETTE said yes. It is on the Judicial Conduct Commission's
website. The Commission has rules of procedure and bylaws. They
are published in the Rules of Court book, which is circulated
amongst the Bar annually.
CHAIR SEEKINS asked Mr. Fayette the kind of instruction and
preparation the staff provided for him.
9:03:14 AM
Senator Gene Therriault joined the committee.
MR. FAYETTE said the executive director provided him with copies
of the judicial canon and the Commission's bylaws and internal
rules. He was also provided with materials from the American
Judicature Society that assists conduct commissions in every
state.
CHAIR SEEKINS asked Mr. Fayette and committee members whether
there were any further statements, questions, or comments.
Hearing none, he informed Mr. Fayette his recommendation would
be forwarded to the President of the Senate. This does not
reflect any intent of any members of The Senate Judiciary
Standing Committee to vote for or against the individual during
any further session.
9:05:20 AM
SENATOR THERRIAULT moved to forward Mr. Fayette's name to the
Senate President for consideration during a joint session for
confirmations. Hearing no objections, the motion carried.
Chair Seekins announced a short recess at 9:05:51 AM.
^Confirmation Hearing: William S.L. Walters - Alaska Public
Offices Commission
9:09:00 AM
CHAIR SEEKINS announced the confirmation hearing for Mr. William
Walters to be up for consideration. He asked Mr. Walters to give
a brief summation of the reason he aspires to be on the
Commission.
9:09:46 AM
MR. WILLIAM WALTERS introduced himself and said he moved to
Alaska in 1981. He attended law school at the University of
Texas where he specialized in administrative law. He is
presently a hearing officer with the Worker's Compensation
Division for the Department of Labor and Workforce Development
(DOLWD). Previous to that, he worked for the Tanana Chiefs
Conference for six years. He has served on several public bodies
including the Fairbanks North Star Borough Planning and Zoning
Commission.
9:11:38 AM
MR. WALTERS explained he was solicited to have his name
submitted to the Governor for the Alaska Public Offices
Commission (APOC), which is a bipartisan commission that
oversees four different statutes and a fifth modification of one
of the statutes. The Commission consists of five members, two of
whom represent the two parties that received the largest number
of votes in the last Gubernatorial election and the fifth member
is a public member nominated by the current members. He said he
would be pleased to serve on the Commission.
SENATOR THERRIAULT asked Mr. Walters to identify the person or
body that approached him.
MR. WALTERS said it was the Democratic Central Committee.
SENATOR THERRIAULT asked whether there was an interview process.
MR. WALTERS said no. He was merely asked to submit materials.
9:13:38 AM
SENATOR GRETCHEN GUESS asked Mr. Walters whether he was
currently employed.
MR. WALTERS said he currently works as a hearing officer for the
Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DOLWD) in the
Division of Worker's Compensation.
SENATOR HUGGINS asked MR. Walters his impression of APOC.
MR. WALTERS hesitated to speak firmly due to his newness to the
Commission. He said APOC is fundamentally about disclosure and
is not a policing organization except to the necessary degree.
He said fundamentally it is doing what it is supposed to do.
9:16:49 AM
SENATOR HUGGINS asked Mr. Walters to clarify whether he was
nominated by a political organization.
MR. WALTERS said yes. He was one of four persons whose names
were chosen to fill an empty seat and the Governor ultimately
chose him.
SENATOR HUGGINS asked Mr. Walters whether he felt he had a
partisan task.
MR. WALTERS said no. His experience is that the vast majority of
the time, the Commission rules unanimously. There is no partisan
divisiveness within the Commission.
9:18:59 AM
CHAIR SEEKINS asked Mr. Walters the background information or
preparation that he was given before serving on APOC.
MR. WALTERS said he was on the Commission before the staff was
allowed to know of his appointment. Once on the committee they
provided him with extensive information. He said the staff does
a very good job supporting the Commission's work.
CHAIR SEEKINS asked Mr. Walters to give an example of the
process in a recent complaint brought before the Commission.
MR. WALTERS reminded the committee the proceedings are matters
of public record. However, he hesitated to speak of any in
particular, as they could be still in process or could recur.
Normally the Commission staff is alerted to a problem by
discovering a discrepancy in records that are filed or by a
citizen complaint. A staff member is assigned to sort it out and
rectify the matter if there is a problem. If rectified, it might
not be brought before the Commission or it might be informally
put on a consent agenda. It would be only the decisions that are
of higher elevation that has to be looked at by the Commission.
CHAIR SEEKINS asked Mr. Walters and committee members whether
there were any further statements, questions, or comments.
Hearing none, he informed Mr. Walters his recommendation would
be forwarded to the President of the Senate. This does not
reflect the intent of any members of The Senate Judiciary
Standing Committee to vote for or against the individual during
any further session.
9:23:54 AM
SENATOR HUGGINS moved to forward Mr. Walters name to the Senate
President for consideration during a joint session for
confirmations. Hearing no objections, the motion carried.
Chair Seekins announced a brief recess at 9:24:23 AM.
CHAIR SEEKINS announced the final confirmation hearing would be
postponed to a future date.
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Seekins adjourned the meeting at 9:26:55 AM.
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