District of Columbia Prosecutorial and Judicial Efficiency Act of 1985

Summary

District of Columbia Prosecutorial and Judicial Efficiency Act of 1985 - Amends the District of Columbia Code (the Code) to require criminal prosecutions for offenses under the laws of the District of Columbia and U.S. laws applicable exclusively to the District of Columbia to be conducted in the name of the District of Columbia by the U.S. Attorney for the District. Removes the jurisdiction of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia over joined Federal and District offenses. Requires an annual report to the Mayor and the City Council by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia on District prosecutions. Directs the Corporation Counsel of the District to maintain on a rotational basis in the Office of the U.S. Attorney at least ten assistant Corporation Counsels for periods of service of at least 120 days. Makes the authority of hearing commissioners in the Superior Court permanent. Directs the Joint Committee on Judical Administration to consider a candidate's experience and special training in administrative and executive positions and familiarity with court procedures in appointing an Executive Officer of the District of Columbia courts. Repeals the mandatory requirement that a member of the bar of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals convicted of an offense involving moral turpitude be disbarred. Amends the Code and the District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act (the D.C. Reorganization Act) to extend the mandatory retirement age of judges of District of Columbia courts to age 74 (currently age 70). Amends the D.C. Reorganization Act to replace the positions of the Chief Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia on the appointment panel for the Board of Trustees of the Public Defender Service with the Chief Judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. Amends the Code to authorize the Register of Wills rather than the Auditor-Master of the Superior Court, to audit and state fiduciary accounts. Amends the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to make such Act inapplicable to any judicial officer or employee of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia or the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. Amends the Code to authorize the District of Columbia Court of Appeals to answer questions of law certified to it by the U.S. Supreme Court, a U.S. Court of Appeals, or the highest appellate court of any State if such questions of law meet specified criteria. Sets forth the procedures for the certification of questions of law. Authorizes the District of Columbia Court of Appeals to certify such questions of law to the highest court of any State. Amends the D.C. Reorganization Act to make information, records, and other materials furnished to or developed by the Judicial Nomination Commission (Commission) in the performance of its duties privileged and confidential. Allows the meetings of the Commission to be closed to the public. Requires that the name of any individual recommended by the Commission be made public upon its submission to the President. Amends the Code to authorize the Judicial Disabilities and Tenure Commission (Tenure Commission) to disclose, upon request, and on a confidential basis, otherwise privileged information to the Judicial Nomination Commission concerning any judge being considered for elevation to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals or for chief judge of a District of Columbia court. Amends the D.C. Reorganization Act to require judges of District of Columbia courts to file, with the Tenure Commission, their declaration of candidacy for reappointment at least six months (currently three months) before the expiration of their term. Requires the Tenure Commission to submit a written evaluation of the candidates performance and fitness to the President at least 60 days (currently 30 days) before the expiration of the judge's term. States the nature of the Tenure Commission's finding necessary for a candidate's automatic reappointment.

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1 official file

• Introduced in House

  summary · EN · 19 September 1985

  Open at official source

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