Update on Legislative and Judicial Activities

Yesterday, the House Commerce Committee met again to continue its review of S. 86, the trust bill. And once again Paul Hanlon and Mark Langan “walked” the committee through the bill. Although the committee had set aside three hours to finish the bill, it actually took less than that. Here’s Paul’s summary of what happened:
Mark Langan and I finished our testimony before the Commerce Committee today, with Dan Kimbell, and Bob Paolini offering support. Chairman Kitzmiller said he wanted to delay a vote on the bill until a time when the full committee could be there (today was another special committee meeting, and not all members were present). He expressed a desire to hear from Mike Hoyt of Legislative Council about technical corrections, and he said he would like to try for unanimous approval from the committee. The Committee will meet again on Wednesday to discuss the bill. They hope to convene between 10:30 and 11:00 when the House finishes its floor actions. I said I would be there in case there are any questions, and Dan said he would come also. Mike Hoyt offered to send over his technical corrections (I think I have seen them all already anyway) so that there are no surprises.
I had to leave the hearing early to attend the meeting of the Vermont Commission on Judicial Operation. This is the legislatively created commission to study and recommend changes to the present structure of our court system. The VBA Board of Managers has said repeatedly that it wants lawyer input before any changes are made and before even any proposals are floated. Accordingly, yesterday, the conversation focused on meetings with county bars throughout the state to hear from you any suggestions you might have that would advance the delivery of justice in a fair, cost efficient manner. Yesterday the Commission discussed guiding principles for the administration of the judiciary. As soon as I have the final version of those principles I will post them on this blog. They’ll be used to guide the conversation to address these issues regarding the following areas:

• Consolidation of staff, including clerks of courts, paid by the state within the judiciary budget and consolidation of staff functions, across courts in individual counties and statewide;
• Regionalization of court administrative functions, both those now performed at the state level and those performed at the county level;
• Use of technology, including video technology, to reduce unnecessary expenditures, including transport of prisoners, while improving access and maintaining the quality of adjudication;
• Flexibility in use of resources to respond to the demands on the judiciary overall and particularly in instances where the amount and nature of demand changes;
• Reallocation of jurisdiction between courts, consistent with effective and efficient operation, and
• Any other idea for the efficient and effective delivery of judicial services.