[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1379 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1379

   To amend title 11, District of Columbia Official Code, to revise 
certain administrative authorities of the District of Columbia courts, 
 and to authorize the District of Columbia Public Defender Service to 
provide professional liability insurance for officers and employees of 
the Service for claims relating to services furnished within the scope 
                    of employment with the Service.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 18, 2011

   Mr. Akaka introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 11, District of Columbia Official Code, to revise 
certain administrative authorities of the District of Columbia courts, 
 and to authorize the District of Columbia Public Defender Service to 
provide professional liability insurance for officers and employees of 
the Service for claims relating to services furnished within the scope 
                    of employment with the Service.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``D.C. Courts and Public Defender 
Service Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. AUTHORITIES OF DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COURTS.

    (a) Permitting Judicial Conference on Biennial Basis; Attendance of 
Magistrate Judges.--Section 11-744, District of Columbia Official Code, 
is amended--
            (1) in the first sentence, by striking ``annually'' and 
        inserting ``biennially or annually'';
            (2) in the first sentence, by striking ``active judges'' 
        and inserting ``active judges and magistrate judges'';
            (3) in the third sentence, by striking ``Every judge'' and 
        inserting ``Every judge and magistrate judge''; and
            (4) in the third sentence, by striking ``Courts of 
        Appeals'' and inserting ``Court of Appeals''.
    (b) Emergency Authority To Toll or Delay Judicial Proceedings.--
            (1) Proceedings in superior court.--
                    (A) In general.--Subchapter III of Chapter 9 of 
                title 11, District of Columbia Official Code, is 
                amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 11-947. Emergency authority to toll or delay proceedings.
    ``(a) Tolling or Delaying Proceedings.--
            ``(1) In general.--In the event of a natural disaster or 
        other emergency situation requiring the closure of Superior 
        Court or rendering it impracticable for the United States or 
        District of Columbia Government or a class of litigants to 
        comply with deadlines imposed by any Federal or District of 
        Columbia law or rule that applies in the Superior Court, the 
        chief judge of the Superior Court may exercise emergency 
        authority in accordance with this section.
            ``(2) Scope of authority.--(A) The chief judge may enter 
        such order or orders as may be appropriate to delay, toll, or 
        otherwise grant relief from the time deadlines imposed by 
        otherwise applicable laws or rules for such period as may be 
        appropriate for any class of cases pending or thereafter filed 
        in the Superior Court.
            ``(B) The authority conferred by this section extends to 
        all laws and rules affecting criminal and juvenile proceedings 
        (including, pre-arrest, post-arrest, pretrial, trial, and post-
        trial procedures) and civil, family, domestic violence, probate 
        and tax proceedings.
            ``(3) Unavailability of chief judge.--If the chief judge of 
        the Superior Court is absent or disabled, the authority 
        conferred by this section may be exercised by the judge 
        designated under section 11-907(a) or by the Joint Committee on 
        Judicial Administration.
            ``(4) Habeas corpus unaffected.--Nothing in this section 
        shall be construed to authorize suspension of the writ of 
        habeas corpus.
    ``(b) Criminal Cases.--In exercising the authority under this 
section for criminal cases, the chief judge shall consider the ability 
of the United States or District of Columbia Government to investigate, 
litigate, and process defendants during and after the emergency 
situation, as well as the ability of criminal defendants as a class to 
prepare their defenses.
    ``(c) Issuance of Orders.--The United States Attorney for the 
District of Columbia or the Attorney General for the District of 
Columbia or the designee of either may request issuance of an order 
under this section, or the chief judge may act on his or her own 
motion.
    ``(d) Duration of Orders.--An order entered under this section may 
not toll or extend a time deadline for a period of more than 14 days, 
except that if the chief judge determines that an emergency situation 
requires additional extensions of the period during which deadlines are 
tolled or extended, the chief judge may, with the consent of the Joint 
Committee on Judicial Administration, enter additional orders under 
this section in order to further toll or extend such time deadline.
    ``(e) Notice.--Upon issuing an order under this section, the chief 
judge--
            ``(1) shall make all reasonable efforts to publicize the 
        order, including, when possible, announcing the order on the 
        District of Columbia Courts Web site; and
            ``(2) shall send notice of the order, including the reasons 
        for the issuance of the order, to the Committee on Homeland 
        Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the 
        Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of 
        Representatives.
    ``(f) Required Reports.--Not later than 180 days after the 
expiration of the last extension or tolling of a time period made by 
the order or orders relating to an emergency situation, the chief judge 
shall submit a brief report to the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on Oversight and 
Government Reform of the House of Representatives, and the Joint 
Committee on Judicial Administration describing the orders, including--
            ``(1) the reasons for issuing the orders;
            ``(2) the duration of the orders;
            ``(3) the effects of the orders on litigants; and
            ``(4) the costs to the court resulting from the orders.
    ``(g) Exceptions.--The notice under subsection (e)(2) and the 
report under subsection (f) are not required in the case of an order 
that tolls or extends a time deadline for a period of less than 14 
days.''.
                    (B) Clerical amendment.--The table of contents of 
                chapter 9 of title 11, District of Columbia Official 
                Code, is amended by adding at the end of the items 
                relating to subchapter III the following:

``11-947. Emergency authority to toll or delay proceedings.''.
            (2) Proceedings in court of appeals.--
                    (A) In general.--Subchapter III of chapter 7 of 
                title 11, District of Columbia Official Code, is 
                amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 11-745. Emergency authority to toll or delay proceedings.
    ``(a) Tolling or Delaying Proceedings.--
            ``(1) In general.--In the event of a natural disaster or 
        other emergency situation requiring the closure of the Court of 
        Appeals or rendering it impracticable for the United States or 
        District of Columbia Government or a class of litigants to 
        comply with deadlines imposed by any Federal or District of 
        Columbia law or rule that applies in the Court of Appeals, the 
        chief judge of the Court of Appeals may exercise emergency 
        authority in accordance with this section.
            ``(2) Scope of authority.--The chief judge may enter such 
        order or orders as may be appropriate to delay, toll, or 
        otherwise grant relief from the time deadlines imposed by 
        otherwise applicable laws or rules for such period as may be 
        appropriate for any class of cases pending or thereafter filed 
        in the Court of Appeals.
            ``(3) Unavailability of chief judge.--If the chief judge of 
        the Court of Appeals is absent or disabled, the authority 
        conferred by this section may be exercised by the judge 
        designated under section 11-706(a) or by the Joint Committee on 
        Judicial Administration.
            ``(4) Habeas corpus unaffected.--Nothing in this section 
        shall be construed to authorize suspension of the writ of 
        habeas corpus.
    ``(b) Issuance of Orders.--The United States Attorney for the 
District of Columbia or the Attorney General for the District of 
Columbia or the designee of either may request issuance of an order 
under this section, or the chief judge may act on his or her own 
motion.
    ``(c) Duration of Orders.--An order entered under this section may 
not toll or extend a time deadline for a period of more than 14 days, 
except that if the chief judge determines that an emergency situation 
requires additional extensions of the period during which deadlines are 
tolled or extended, the chief judge may, with the consent of the Joint 
Committee on Judicial Administration, enter additional orders under 
this section in order to further toll or extend such time deadline.
    ``(d) Notice.--Upon issuing an order under this section, the chief 
judge--
            ``(1) shall make all reasonable efforts to publicize the 
        order, including, when possible, announcing the order on the 
        District of Columbia Courts Web site; and
            ``(2) shall send notice of the order, including the reasons 
        for the issuance of the order, to the Committee on Homeland 
        Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the 
        Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of 
        Representatives.
    ``(e) Required Reports.--Not later than 180 days after the 
expiration of the last extension or tolling of a time period made by 
the order or orders relating to an emergency situation, the chief judge 
shall submit a brief report to the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on Oversight and 
Government Reform of the House of Representatives, and the Joint 
Committee on Judicial Administration describing the orders, including--
            ``(1) the reasons for issuing the orders;
            ``(2) the duration of the orders;
            ``(3) the effects of the orders on litigants; and
            ``(4) the costs to the court resulting from the orders.
    ``(f) Exceptions.--The notice under subsection (d)(2) and the 
report under subsection (e) are not required in the case of an order 
that tolls or extends a time deadline for a period of less than 14 
days.''.
                    (B) Clerical amendment.--The table of contents of 
                chapter 7 of title 11, District of Columbia Official 
                Code, is amended by adding at the end of the items 
                relating to subchapter III the following:

``11-745. Emergency authority to toll or delay proceedings.''.
    (c) Authorization for Program of Voluntary Separation Incentive 
Payments.--
            (1) In general.--Chapter 17 of title 11, District of 
        Columbia Official Code, is amended by inserting after section 
        11-1726 the following new section:
``Sec. 11-1726A. Voluntary Separation Incentive Payments
    ``The Joint Committee on Judicial Administration may, by 
regulation, establish a program substantially similar to the program 
established under subchapter II of chapter 35 of title 5, United States 
Code, for nonjudicial employees of the District of Columbia courts.''.
            (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of contents of chapter 
        17 of title 11, District of Columbia Official Code, is amended 
        by inserting after the item relating to section 11-1726 the 
        following new item:

``11-1726A. Voluntary separation incentive payments.''.
    (d) Permitting Agreements To Provide Services on a Reimbursable 
Basis to Other District Government Offices.--
            (1) In general.--Section 11-1742, District of Columbia 
        Official Code, is amended by adding at the end the following 
        new subsection:
    ``(d) To prevent duplication and to promote efficiency and economy, 
the Executive Officer may enter into agreements to provide the Mayor of 
the District of Columbia with equipment, supplies, and services and 
credit reimbursements received from the Mayor for such equipment, 
supplies, and services to the appropriation of the District of Columbia 
Courts against which they were charged.''.
            (2) Effective date.--The amendment made by paragraph (1) 
        shall apply with respect to fiscal year 2010 and each 
        succeeding fiscal year.

SEC. 3. LIABILITY INSURANCE FOR PUBLIC DEFENDER SERVICE.

    Section 307 of the District of Columbia Court Reform and Criminal 
Procedure Act of 1970 (sec. 2-1607, D.C. Official Code) is amended by 
adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(e) The Service shall, to the extent the Director considers 
appropriate, provide representation for and hold harmless, or provide 
liability insurance for, any person who is an employee, member of the 
Board of Trustees, or officer of the Service for money damages arising 
out of any claim, proceeding, or case at law relating to the furnishing 
of representational services or management services or related services 
under this Act while acting within the scope of that person's office or 
employment, including but not limited to such claims, proceedings, or 
cases at law involving employment actions, injury, loss of liberty, 
property damage, loss of property, or personal injury, or death arising 
from malpractice or negligence of any such officer or employee.''.

SEC. 4. REDUCTION IN TERM OF SERVICE OF JUDGES ON FAMILY COURT OF THE 
              SUPERIOR COURT.

    (a) Reduction in Term of Service.--Section 11-908A(c)(1), District 
of Columbia Official Code, is amended by striking ``5 years'' and 
inserting ``3 years''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply with respect to any individual serving as a judge on the Family 
Court of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia on or after the 
date of the enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>