HB 323 - INCREASING NUMBER OF SUPERIOR CT JUDGES  1:50:17 PM CHAIR RAMRAS announced that the next order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 323, "An Act increasing the number of superior court judges designated for the third judicial district; and providing for an effective date." 1:50:49 PM [Chair Ramras turned the gavel over to Vice Chair Dahlstrom.] DOUG WOOLIVER, Administrative Attorney, Administrative Staff, Office of the Administrative Director, Alaska Court System (ACS), explained on behalf of the administration that HB 323 would add a new superior court judge position to the third judicial district - that which includes Anchorage. This proposed addition must occur through statute because it's the statutes that establish how many judges there are in a given judicial district. It is the ACS's intention, he relayed, to have the new judge preside over civil cases, such as child in need of aid (CINA) cases, because the amount of time the courts are spending on them has increased substantially, in part due to the fact that more of them are being heard in their entirety by superior court judges rather than by standing masters acting as assistants to the superior court. This change in the ACS's process provides for a much better case model, allowing the presiding judge to have a much better understanding of the families involved. Another reason there has been an increase in the CINA case workload is that there has also been an increase in the number of what he termed "status hearings" - derived from the therapeutic court model; status hearings help keep the families on track and increase the likelihood of their success in getting their kids back - the ultimate goal of the entire CINA process. MR. WOOLIVER explained that the ACS's workload has also increased due to the fact that there has been an increase in the number of unrepresented litigants addressing the court in family law cases. He surmised that one of the biggest reasons more people are choosing to litigate their family law matters without the assistance of counsel is cost. Such cases, however, result in a lot more work for the court because although they can be expensive, attorneys help cases move along in many different ways - they know the legal issues involved, they know how to file motions, they know when to file motions, and they know how to focus the court's attention [on legally relevant issues]. In contrast, unrepresented litigants don't necessarily have that knowledge, and so it requires a lot of judicial time to help such litigants through the process. He mentioned that in addition to, at some point, requesting more judges, the ACS is also intending to implement other procedural changes in how it handles pro se cases in particular, and would be attempting to hire more staff to help better manage pro se cases. [Vice Chair Dahlstrom returned the gavel to Chair Ramras.] 1:55:53 PM REPRESENTATIVE HERRON asked what the proposed new judge's caseload would be. MR. WOOLIVER said that even with the new judge, the caseload would be about 600 cases per judge. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG remarked that he is very much in favor of expanding the use of [judges pro tempore], which could involve training suitable members of the bar to serve as [judges pro tempore]. He suggested that the ACS consider pursuing that option; it wouldn't cost very much, it would speed the judicial system along, and it would provide [extra] judges. MR. WOOLIVER reiterated that it is the statutes that determine who gets to serve as a judge. Furthermore, judges must be appointed by the governor, and so, currently, the ACS uses retired judges as judges pro tempore. To allow a non-appointed person to serve as a judge pro tempore would require a statutory change. In response to a question, he explained that although the ACS does use special masters occasionally, it doesn't do so on routine cases. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG requested that Mr. Wooliver ask the ACS to consider making a change to the Alaska Rules of Court so that the use of such people could be expanded. MR. WOOLIVER agreed to do so. In response to a question about the ACS's fiscal note for HB 323, he explained that the biggest single cost would be for the new judge - $257,000 for salary and benefits; that every judge has an in-court clerk, a law clerk, and an administrative assistant - $61,400, $60,400, and $61,400, respectively, for salary and benefits; and that there is a "one- time" cost for the necessary equipment - [$33,800]. He mentioned that the necessary capital costs were already included in last year's capital budget. 2:03:33 PM QUINLAN STEINER, Director, Central Office, Public Defender Agency (PDA), Department of Administration (DOA), in response to a question, said that the PDA has no particular concern regarding the proposed addition of a superior court judge position to the third judicial district, but predicted that that addition could put added pressure on the PDA due to it then having insufficient personnel. CHAIR RAMRAS, after ascertaining that no one else wished to testify, closed public testimony on HB 323. 2:04:59 PM REPRESENTATIVE DAHLSTROM moved to report HB 323 out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being no objection, HB 323 was reported from the House Judiciary Standing Committee.