The House Judiciary Committee heard HB 1047, authored by Rep. Washburne and Rep. DeLaney, creating a circuit and superior court motion clerk pilot program to provide assistance to courts with preparing orders for complex motions. This bill requires the Judicial Center to administer a 2-year pilot program and to report to the Interim Study Committee on Courts and the Judiciary (committee) concerning the pilot program. Judicial Center staff attorneys, senior judges, and third year law students would be used to write orders for this pilot. It also requires the committee to receive reports concerning the pilot program, and allows the committee to make recommendations and to propose legislation concerning the pilot program.
The bill was amended to remove the fee charged by the Judicial Center for participation in the program, and also to allow the possibility that another entity may administer this program. Representatives for the Indiana Judges Association and Indiana Chamber of Commerce, as well as Jane Seigel, Executive Director of the Judicial Center, testified in support of the bill. The amended bill passed, 12-0.
Read the bill at https://iga.in.gov/legislative/2016/bills/house/1047