Judicial Retirement Plans/Pensions 2011: Midwestern States
Illinois HB 146 Caps the highest salary for annuity purposes, final rate of earnings, final average compensation, and final average salary for current members, participants, and participating employees...
View ArticleNorth Dakota Interim Judiciary Committee to look at variety of issues
July 26 the North Dakota legislature’s interim judiciary committee will examine a variety of issues, including background information, testimony, and committee discussion concerning: a study of...
View Article2011 Midwestern bail/pretrial release legislation
Law Iowa SB 165 / SB 292 Provides that any fine, court costs, surcharge, or other penalty previously paid by the defendant, including an unsecured appearance bond, may be refunded to the defendant or...
View ArticleState-by-State 2011 Legislative Year in Review: North Dakota
New laws affecting the courts enacted or adopted by the North Dakota legislature in 2011 include the following: HB 1064 Strikes provision that certain court fees must be used to contract for indigent...
View Article2011 Midwestern indigent defense legislation
Law North Dakota HB 1023 Strikes provision that certain court fees must be used to contract for indigent defense. North Dakota HB 1065 Clarifies that the cities are responsible for indigent defense...
View ArticleOhio Issue 1: Supreme Court Commissions? Courts of Conciliation? Thank (or...
While much of the focus regarding Issue 1 has been on the proposed change to the judicial retirement age, Ohio voters will decide on the outright repeal of two sections of the state constitution’s...
View ArticleMerit selection: comprehensive state-by-state review of efforts to modify or...
The debate over merit selection systems has reached a head in the last several years, with strenuous efforts at play to create merit selection systems in states which lack them coupled with vigorous...
View ArticleBills to allow more guns into courthouses advance in six states
A litany of legislation has been introduced in the 2013 to allow more people to carry firearms into U.S. state courthouses. Today I’ll be looking at the bills that have moved or are moving in this...
View ArticleNorth Dakota State of the Judiciary: “access to the courts and the ability to...
The National Center for State Courts has an archive of current and prior State of the Judiciary addresses located here. Chief Justice Gerald W. VandeWalle gave his State of the Judiciary to a joint...
View ArticleTwo 2014 initiatives currently circulating would directly affect the courts
In addition to the items already put onto the 2014 ballot by state legislatures affecting the courts, there are at least two initiatives circulating that could make alterations as well. Missouri...
View ArticleNorth Dakota Legislative Year in Review: giving supreme court powers to toll...
Law HB 1073 Grants supreme court power to declare judicial emergencies. Allows for supreme court to toll statutes/deadlines. Does not allow for tolling or extension of deadlines or requirements imposed...
View ArticleSeveral state legislatures have empowered chief justices, supreme courts to...
In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks states began the process of dealing with the potential for courts to be shut down for days at a time. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita extended that potential...
View ArticleNorth Dakota: Interim Judiciary Committee looks at creating a “one fee”...
The North Dakota Legislature’s interim Judiciary Committee meets yesterday (July 1). On the agenda were several items, including the question of court fees. During the 2013 the legislature considered...
View ArticleEfforts to change state constitutions to remove/alter Judicial Council or...
This fifth installment looks at efforts to change state constitutional grants of rulemaking authority to courts of last resort, typically called the “supreme court”, or judicial councils. My colleagues...
View ArticleChanging civil jurisdiction thresholds – Part 4
This fourth in a series of posts looks at legislative efforts to change the civil jurisdiction thresholds in state limited and general jurisdiction courts in the last decade. For a listing of all...
View ArticleNorth Dakota State of the Judiciary: lack of legislative resources for court...
On January 7, North Dakota Chief Justice Gerald VandeWalle delivered his State of the Judiciary Address to the state’s Legislative Assembly. From a procedural standpoint, no resolution was adopted. The...
View ArticleNorth Dakota: Should courts be mandated to sit outside of cities or should...
It may sound mundane, but the question of where courts should be located at has been a contested issue for centuries. Sending judges out the rural hinterlands was one of the mandates found in the Magna...
View ArticleNorth Dakota: hearing today on giving another 4 years of life to the state’s...
When North Dakota rewrote its judiciary article in 1976 (Amendment 3) and then heavily amended it again in 1980 (Amendment 5) it declined to create an intermediate appellate court (typically called a...
View ArticleCarrying guns into courthouses: Arkansas moving legislation, Texas debating,...
Continuing a trend that’s been moving nationally over the last several years, efforts have been pressed in this legislative session to expand those people who are allowed to carry weapons into...
View ArticleStates Expand Protections Against False Liens for Public Officials
During this legislative session, seven states passed measures that expand protections against the filing of false liens—a legal claim to property for unpaid debt—for public officials, and one other...
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