Introduction of the District of Columbia Courts Improvement Act of 2022

Floor Speech

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Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, today, I introduce the District of Columbia Courts Improvement Act of 2022. This bill would make several important improvements to the operations of the local District of Columbia courts.

Under the D.C. Home Rule Act, D.C. has no authority to amend title 11 of the D.C. Code (relating to organization and jurisdiction of the local D.C. courts). This bill only amends provisions in title 11.

First, this bill makes several changes to jury service in the D.C. Superior Court. It ties Superior Court juror pay to the pay jurors receive in federal court. Superior Court jurors are currently paid less than federal jurors. The bill also modernizes juror summonses by giving prospective jurors the option to receive a summons electronically, which will save the court money on postage and staff time. The bill further allows jurors who are 70 years old or older to be excused from jury service if the individual so requests.

Next, this bill allows the local D.C. courts to pay attorneys appointed to represent indigent defendants in criminal proceedings and indigent children in delinquency and need of supervision proceedings up to the amount currently allowed in federal court. The local D.C. courts' current rate is $42 per hour less than the federal rate. Similarly, the bill eliminates the $25 hourly rate fixed rate for D.C. Criminal Justice Act investigators and caps the rate at the rate of pay for investigators in the U.S. District Court for D.C. Investigators in federal court in D.C. are currently paid $65 an hour, and up to $75 an hour in death penalty and other complex cases.

This bill also would move the appointment and removal of the Register of Wills (ROW) and supervisory responsibilities from the Chief Judge of the Superior Court to the Executive Officer of the D.C. courts. This change would provide the Executive Officer oversight of the personnel for the entire Probate Division, including the ROW, which will improve efficiency in making personnel decisions and in the overall administration of the Probate Division.

While both the federal government and the District of Columbia government have statutory authority to give retroactive pay increase to employees, the local D.C. courts do not have this authority. This bill corrects this deficiency.

The bill also changes references to the Domestic Violence Unit to the Domestic Violence Division, and updates references to individuals with intellectual disabilities. It would also increase the jurisdictional limit of the Small Claims Branch to $12,000, indexed for inflation.

The bill further provides permanent authority to the local D.C. courts to retain bar examination and admission fees, independent gift authority, permanent procurement authority for motor vehicles and express authority to permit other entities to use their facilities.

Legislation to improve the operations of the local D.C. Courts has been enacted into law several times over the last decade on a bipartisan basis. I hope this bill will likewise be passed in a bipartisan manner.

I urge my colleagues to support this important bill.

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