MANY BILLS RELATED to the judiciary and the legal system were introduced, many hearings were held, but only a few measures have emerged from this legislative session. However, a number of reform concepts and potential constitutional amendments are slated for further study in the coming year.

The following is an update on key pieces of legislation considered this session.

Five-year CJ term. SB 35 has been signed into law by Gov. Shaheen mandating that the next Supreme Court chief justice will serve a five-year term in that administrative role, and then be replaced by the associate justice with the most seniority. An associate justice has the option of declining the post.

Independent JCC. At press time, SB 197 outlining the creation of a more independent Judicial Conduct Commission was awaiting the governor’s signature allowing passage of a compromise bill written by House and Senate negotiators. The bill calls for an 11-member panel composed of the following:

• Three judges appointed from each level of the state courts. The appointments would be made and approved by a majority of the Supreme Court.
• Two lawyers nominated by the New Hampshire Bar Association, one approved by the governor and one by the Senate president and the speaker of the House.

Six non-lawyers, two each appointed by the leaders of each legislative chamber and by the governor.

Further details of the new JCC:

• Information on deliberations, complaints, findings and dispositions of the JCC would be made public after a probable cause finding is made.
• Deliberations of the panel on matters that had reached the probable cause stage would be public, as the JCC’s meetings are specifically excluded from the jursidiction of RSA 91-A:5 (IV), which governs the closure of meetings regarding personnel matters.
• Appeals of the committee’s findings to the Supreme Court would be limited to procedural issues and errors of law.
• The independent JCC would be funded with a $250,000 appropriation taken from the Supreme Court’s budget, but the commission would appoint its own administrator.
• The JCC would have authority to issue reprimands and censures. More serious sanctions would require the JCC to petition the Supreme Court to suspend a judge. Removal would be up to the Legislature through either a bill of address or a trial following an impeachment.

Court rules amendment. CACR 5, passed by the House, was deferred for action by the Senate. The amendment would give the Legislature the ultimate authority to veto or change rules governing court operations promulgated by the Supreme Court.

Permanent Judicial Selection Commission. CACR 16 passed the Senate but is being held for study by the House. The bill proposes a constitutional amendment that would make permanent a merit selection process for judges and gives the JSC the responsibility of evaluating all new judges every 10 years. The findings would be made public. An earlier version of the bill would have granted the panel the ability to remove a judge who had an unsatisfactory evaluation, but the measure was amended by the Senate to provide for the JSC to report its findings to the governor and Legislature.

Legislative appointments to Court Rules Committee. SCR 1, which would have recommended the addition of two legislative representatives to the Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee on Rules was killed (voted "inexpedient to legislate") by the House Judiciary Committee after unanimously passing the Senate.

Judicial pension reform. A bill changing the judicial pension system from a defined benefit to a contributory plan is being considered by the House Finance Committee and may require a ruling on its validity from the Internal Revenue Service.

Other issues: The deunification of the Bar, other renewable term bills for judges and legislation affecting the Professional Conduct Committee have been "retained" by the House Judiciary Committee, which means they won’t be acted on until next year.

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