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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 7400
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 6619
Referred to Committee on JUDICIARY
Introduced by:
(JUD)
AN ACT CONCERNING TH E MEMBERSHIP OF THE CRIMINAL
JUSTICE AND PUBLIC DEFENDER SERVICE COMM ISSIONS AND
TRANSPARENCY AND PUB LIC INPUT RELATED TO THE CRIMINAL
JUSTICE COMMISSION.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 51-275a of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2019): 2
(a) (1) There is established a Criminal Justice Commission which, 3
prior to July 1, 2020, shall be composed of the Chief State's Attorney 4
and six members nominated by the Governor and appointed by the 5
General Assembly in accordance with section 4-2, two of whom shall 6
be judges of the Superior Court. 7
(2) On and after July 1, 2020, the Criminal Justice Commission shall 8
be composed of the Chief State's Attorney and seven members 9
nominated by the Governor and appointed by the General Assembly 10
in accordance with section 4-2, two of whom shall be judges of the 11
Superior Court and at least one of whom shall be a person who is 12
justice-impacted. 13 Raised Bill No. 7400
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(b) The chairman shall be appointed by the Governor. 14
(c) Members shall serve without compensation but shall be 15
reimbursed for actual expenses incurred while engaged in the duties of 16
the commission. 17
(d) The commission shall post notices concerning the time, date and 18
place of meetings of the commission on an Internet web site operated 19
by the commission. 20
(e) Any meeting of the commission shall be held in the Legislative 21
Office Building. 22
[(d)] (f) The commission may adopt such rules as it deems necessary 23
for the conduct of its internal affairs. 24
[(e)] (g) The commission may adopt regulations in accordance with 25
chapter 54 to carry out its responsibilities under this chapter. 26
[(f)] (h) The commission shall be within the Division of Criminal 27
Justice. Said division shall provide staff support for the commission. 28
Sec. 2. Subsections (a) to (c), inclusive, of section 51-289 of the 29
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 30
thereof (Effective October 1, 2019): 31
(a) There is established a Public Defender Services Commission 32
which shall consist of [seven] eight members appointed as follows: 33
(1) The Chief Justice shall appoint two judges of the Superior Court, 34
or a judge of the Superior Court and any one of the following: A 35
retired judge of the Superior Court, a former judge of the Superior 36
Court, a retired judge of the Circuit Court, or a retired judge of the 37
Court of Common Pleas; 38
(2) The speaker of the House, the president pro tempore of the 39
Senate, the minority leader of the House and the minority leader of the 40
Senate shall each appoint one member; and 41 Raised Bill No. 7400
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(3) The Governor shall appoint a member who shall be a person 42
who is justice-impacted and a [chairman] chairperson. 43
(b) The [chairman] chairperson shall serve for a three-year term and 44
all appointments of members to replace those whose terms expire shall 45
be for terms of three years. 46
(c) Not more than [three] four of the members, other than the 47
[chairman] chairperson, may be members of the same political party. 48
Of the [four] five nonjudicial members, other than the [chairman] 49
chairperson, at least two shall not be members of the bar of any state. 50
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2019 51-275a
Sec. 2 October 1, 2019 51-289(a) to (c)
Statement of Purpose:
To add a justice-impacted person to the Criminal Justice and the Public
Defender Service Commissions and to provide for transparency and
public input concerning the Criminal Justice Commission.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline,
except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is
not underlined.]