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Sponsor Statement for SB 172
Court System Annual Report

An Act relating to an annual report by the court system to the public and the legislature.

The Court System has been voluntarily providing annual reports on its administration and activities since 1961. This report has been well received and informative, containing useful data for both the public and legislature to use in analyzing the effectiveness and efficiency of the court system.

Senate Bill 172 insures the future publication of this document by statutorily requiring the Court System to continue producing and distributing the report on an annual basis. The legislation is drafted to maintain the compilation of information currently contained in the report such as the profile of the court system and its justices, summaries of the system's administration, facilities, programs and personnel, and statistical summaries on the filings, dispositions and pending caseloads of the different court levels.

Additionally, this legislation requires the court system to include time periods between the initial receipt and final disposition of the cases and between the final arguments and final disposition of cases for the different classes of courts and specific judges. It also requires the inclusion of information on judges and justices who have had their pay withheld for failure to comply with AS 22.05.140(b), 22.07.090(b), 22.10.190(b) or 22.15.220(c), all of which pertain to disposing of cases within a 6-month timeframe. Finally, it requires that travel of Supreme Court justices, appellate court judges and district court magistrates be included in the report. This would provide all relevant information in one central publication.

This additional information is useful to the legislature and the public in analyzing the effectiveness and efficiency of the court system in general as well as individual judges and justices. The data on individual judges is normally available only for those individuals up for retention elections. Including this information in the annual report provides a more current and accessible source for review.

By placing the requirement for an annual report in statute, the state avoids the possibility of it being eliminated for any reason. Differing politics, philosophies, revenues and numerous other factors can always affect an agency's decision on what type of information to provide. Senate Bill 172 secures this report's continuation and insures the public retains a consistent source of the valuable information.

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