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Norton Introduces Bill to Improve Operations of D.C. Courts, Making Them More Efficient

August 4, 2020

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) announced that she introduced today the District of Columbia Courts Improvement Act of 2020, which would make several important changes to improve the operations of the local D.C. Courts.

"Our D.C. statehood bill has passed in the House, but until Senate passage, the Home Rule Act gives Congress exclusive jurisdiction over the organization and jurisdiction of the local D.C. Courts," Norton said. "In recent history, legislation to improve the operations of the D.C. Courts has been enacted into law every few years. I hope this bill will likewise be adopted in a bipartisan manner."

The bill would make the following changes:

  • Remove the consent requirement for D.C. Superior Court magistrate judges in certain situations, furthering the efficiency of the judicial process.
  • Authorize magistrate judges to issue search and arrest warrants and give all magistrate judges contempt authority.
  • Ties D.C. Superior Court juror pay to the pay jurors receive in federal court. Currently, Superior Court jurors are paid less than federal jurors.
  • Modernize juror summonses by allowing potential jurors to complete the questionnaire electronically.
  • Allow jurors who are 70 years old or older to be excused from jury service if the individual so chooses.
  • Give the D.C. Courts and the Public Defender Service (PDS) "buyout" authority for employees who separate by voluntary retirement or by resignation. The D.C. Courts and PDS have this authority in fiscal year 2020 under the fiscal year 2020 District of Columbia Appropriations bill, but this bill would provide permanent authority.
  • Increase the pay to attorneys for 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 current rate in the D.C. Courts has not been updated in eight years and is $42 per hour less than the federal rate.
  • Eliminate the $25 hourly fixed rate for D.C. Criminal Justice Act investigators. Federal investigators in D.C. are currently paid $65 an hour, and up to $75 an hour in death penalty and other complex cases.
  • Move the appointment and removal of the Register of Wills (ROW) and supervisory responsibilities from the D.C. Superior Court and the Chief Judge of the Superior Court, respectively, 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.
  • Gives the D.C. Courts the authority to give retroactive pay increases to employees on board at the time the increase is ordered and to employees who have retired (not resigned) or died between the date the increase becomes effective and the date it is ordered.
  • Makes corrections to portions of the D.C. Coe that reference the Domestic Violence Division where it still refers to its old name, the Domestic Violence Unit, and updates how title 11 of the D.C. Code references individuals with intellectual disabilities.

In May 2019, Norton introduced her District of Columbia Courts Home Rule Act (H.R. 2769), which would give D.C. authority over the jurisdiction and organization of the local D.C. courts.