The House Judiciary Committee met Nov. 13 and took action on a number of judicial reform bills held over from last spring’s session, but passed none on for a floor vote. (A work session on a bill proposing the deunification of the Bar was held after Bar News went to press.)

In its Nov. 13 session, the committee recommended to the full House that seven of the nine bills it had retained should be killed (voted "ITL" for inexpedient to legislate), and two other bills were recommended for "interim study." In most cases, the full House, which convenes in January, follows the recommendations of its committees.

Failing to pass the committee (losing by a 9-9 deadlock) was CACR 16, a much-discussed constitutional amendment passed by the Senate that would have created 10-year renewable terms for new judges. The bill would have given the review authority for renewing terms to the Executive Council.

Retained for study were HB 280, which would establish a committee composed entirely of legislators to handle lawyer discipline, and HB 566, which would set term limits for the administrative judges of the three lower courts.

The Judiciary Committee will discuss HB 265, regarding deunification of the Bar, on Dec. 12 following a work session by a subcommittee that met on Nov. 14.

Click here for legislative updates, and plan to attend the NHBA Mid-Year Meeting, which will provide a legislative outlook on legal and judicial issues. (See "Bar's Mid-Year Meeting Sneak Preview.")

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