Judiciary

The Judicial Branch's Act Concerning Court Operations addresses a myriad of topics, from the appointment of judges when the General Assembly is not in session to the eventual outsourcing of court transcript production and the placement of sexual assault examiners in Connecticut hospitals.

The legislative proposal attempts to clarify that the General Assembly would have to act on nominated judges and family support magistrates by the sixth Wednesday following their nomination by the governor when lawmakers are not in session. Confusion about the deadline for action arose in October 2017, when Gov. Dannel P. Malloy nominated Appellate Court Judges Maria Araujo Kahn and Raheem L. Mullins to the Supreme Court, and nominated Judge William H. Bright Jr. to fill a vacancy on the Appellate Court, according to Melissa Farley, executive director of the External Affairs Division of the Judicial Branch.

Under the proposal, the Judicial Branch will begin positioning itself to outsource the production of court transcripts once the current contract with court recording monitors expires in June 2021. The court monitors are paid extra to produce transcripts when requested by a private party. In November 2018, the branch began offering audio recordings of court procedures to the public for $20 a day per case, but the recordings, which are provided on a CD or as an MP3 file, are not available for a week after an order is placed.

The branch is proposing to provide more convenient access to sexual assault forensic examiners, which are medical professionals certified to conduct forensic examinations of sexual assault victims and collect evidence that is sometimes referred to as a "rape kit." Currently, a pool of certified SAFE nurses provides services to the state's nine acute care hospitals. Under the proposal, each hospital will have certified SAFE examiners.

The branch proposes adding court-based victim services advocates to the list of those who are mandated to report suspected child abuse and neglect.

Also under the proposed legislation, qualified couples who have filed for a traditional divorce can ask for a non-adversarial dissolution of their marriages without having to pay additional court filing fees. Non-adversarial divorces can be granted within 35 days.

In cases where newly arrested defendants are hospitalized before they make their first court appearance, the branch is proposing to allow judges to waive the presence of the defendant at a court arraignment after an on-the-record hearing involving defense attorneys and prosecutors. The change would eliminate the need for hospital arraignments and enable the public access to the proceeding and to related court documents. The issue of hospital arraignments, which occur infrequently but often involve high-profile crimes, has been discussed for months by the state Judicial-Media Committee.

The proposal also establishes that the costs of attorneys appointed in juvenile proceedings will be shared between the Division of Public Defender Services and the Judicial Branch in cases where judges determine a party should have legal representation "in the interest of justice." Currently, the public defender division is funding the full amount.

Other tweaks to existing state law and practices include sending "writs of error," a type of appeal, directly to the Appellate Court rather than the Supreme Court. The proposal clarifies that victims are entitled to compensation in juvenile court proceedings and for attendance at Board of Pardons and Paroles hearings; transfers Freedom of Information appeals hearings from the Hartford Judicial District to the New Britain Judicial District; and clarifies when local boards of education are responsible for paying the cost of educating children in the juvenile justice system. The change reflects current practice, according to the branch.

Division of Criminal Justice

Chief State's Attorney Kevin T. Kane said the Division of Criminal Justice's biggest push during the upcoming legislative session would be to expand a program that provides early screening and intervention to those charged with minor drug offenses. The pilot program is funded by a $489,149 grant from the Stamford-based Herbert and Nell Singer Foundation, administered by the New York City-based Center for Court Innovation. The state Office of Policy Management also has granted $101,396 to cover program costs through June 30, 2019.

Geographical area courts in New London, Norwich, Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven and Waterbury are participating in the program, and the division is working with the Center of Court Innovation to complete a status report that is due to the General Assembly on Feb. 1.

Brian Austin Jr., executive assistant state's attorney, said the program has garnered interest and support from Gov.-elect Lamont's criminal justice transition team and a Judicial Branch task force working on responses to the opioid crisis. The program, staffed by per diem prosecutors and local social service providers, including, locally, Reliance Health, seeks to identify lower-level offenders who would be best served, along with the public, by being steered into services and treatment rather than prosecution.

"We're trying to do data-driven policy," Austin said Friday. "We're collecting significant amounts of information about the individuals who are being screened and diverted and putting it into spread sheets."

k.florin@theday.com