I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1379 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 10, 2012 

Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

AN ACT 

To amend title 11, District of Columbia Official Code, to 

revise certain administrative authorities of the District 

of Columbia courts, and to authorize the District of 

Columbia Public Defender Service to provide professional 

liability insurance for officers and employees of the Service for claims relating to services furnished within the 

scope of employment with the Service. 


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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘D.C. Courts and Public 

5 Defender Service Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AUTHORITIES OF DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COURTS. 

7 (a) PERMITTING JUDICIAL CONFERENCE ON BIEN8 NIAL BASIS; ATTENDANCE OF MAGISTRATE JUDGES.— 

9 Section 11–744, District of Columbia Official Code, is 

10 amended— 

11 (1) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘annually’’ 

12 and inserting ‘‘biennially or annually’’; 

13 (2) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘active 

14 judges’’ and inserting ‘‘active judges and magistrate 

15 judges’’; 

16 (3) in the third sentence, by striking ‘‘Every 

17 judge’’ and inserting ‘‘Every judge and magistrate 

18 judge’’; and 

19 (4) in the third sentence, by striking ‘‘Courts of 

20 Appeals’’ and inserting ‘‘Court of Appeals’’. 

21 (b) EMERGENCY AUTHORITY TO TOLL OR DELAY

22 JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS.— 

23 (1) PROCEEDINGS IN SUPERIOR COURT.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter III of 

25 Chapter 9 of title 11, District of Columbia OffiVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:11 Jul 11, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1379.RFH S1379

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1 cial Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

2 following new section: 

3 ‘‘§ 11–947. Emergency authority to toll or delay pro4 ceedings. 

5 ‘‘(a) TOLLING OR DELAYING PROCEEDINGS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the event of a natural 

7 disaster or other emergency situation requiring the 

8 closure of Superior Court or rendering it impracti9 cable for the United States or District of Columbia 

10 Government or a class of litigants to comply with 

11 deadlines imposed by any Federal or District of Co12 lumbia law or rule that applies in the Superior 

13 Court, the chief judge of the Superior Court may ex14 ercise emergency authority in accordance with this 

15 section. 

16 ‘‘(2) SCOPE OF AUTHORITY.—(A) The chief 

17 judge may enter such order or orders as may be ap18 propriate to delay, toll, or otherwise grant relief 

19 from the time deadlines imposed by otherwise appli20 cable laws or rules for such period as may be appro21 priate for any class of cases pending or thereafter 

22 filed in the Superior Court. 

23 ‘‘(B) The authority conferred by this section ex24 tends to all laws and rules affecting criminal and ju25 venile proceedings (including, pre-arrest, post-arrest, 


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1 pretrial, trial, and post-trial procedures) and civil, 

2 family, domestic violence, probate and tax pro3 ceedings. 

4 ‘‘(3) UNAVAILABILITY OF CHIEF JUDGE.—If 

5 the chief judge of the Superior Court is absent or 

6 disabled, the authority conferred by this section may 

7 be exercised by the judge designated under section 

8 11–907(a) or by the Joint Committee on Judicial 

9 Administration. 

10 ‘‘(4) HABEAS CORPUS UNAFFECTED.—Nothing 

11 in this section shall be construed to authorize sus12 pension of the writ of habeas corpus. 

13 ‘‘(b) CRIMINAL CASES.—In exercising the authority 

14 under this section for criminal cases, the chief judge shall 

15 consider the ability of the United States or District of Co16 lumbia Government to investigate, litigate, and process de17 fendants during and after the emergency situation, as well 

18 as the ability of criminal defendants as a class to prepare 

19 their defenses. 

20 ‘‘(c) ISSUANCE OF ORDERS.—The United States At21 torney for the District of Columbia or the Attorney Gen22 eral for the District of Columbia or the designee of either 

23 may request issuance of an order under this section, or 

24 the chief judge may act on his or her own motion. 


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1 ‘‘(d) DURATION OF ORDERS.—An order entered 

2 under this section may not toll or extend a time deadline 

3 for a period of more than 14 days, except that if the chief 

4 judge determines that an emergency situation requires ad5 ditional extensions of the period during which deadlines 

6 are tolled or extended, the chief judge may, with the con7 sent of the Joint Committee on Judicial Administration, 

8 enter additional orders under this section in order to fur9 ther toll or extend such time deadline. 

10 ‘‘(e) NOTICE.—Upon issuing an order under this sec11 tion, the chief judge— 

12 ‘‘(1) shall make all reasonable efforts to pub13 licize the order, including, when possible, announcing 

14 the order on the District of Columbia Courts Web 

15 site; and 

16 ‘‘(2) shall send notice of the order, including 

17 the reasons for the issuance of the order, to the 

18 Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

19 Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Over20 sight and Government Reform of the House of Rep21 resentatives. 

22 ‘‘(f) REQUIRED REPORTS.—Not later than 180 days 

23 after the expiration of the last extension or tolling of a 

24 time period made by the order or orders relating to an 

25 emergency situation, the chief judge shall submit a brief 


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1 report to the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov2 ernmental Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on Over3 sight and Government Reform of the House of Represent4 atives, and the Joint Committee on Judicial Administra5 tion describing the orders, including— 

6 ‘‘(1) the reasons for issuing the orders; 

7 ‘‘(2) the duration of the orders; 

8 ‘‘(3) the effects of the orders on litigants; and 

9 ‘‘(4) the costs to the court resulting from the 

10 orders. 

11 ‘‘(g) EXCEPTIONS.—The notice under subsection 

12 (e)(2) and the report under subsection (f) are not required 

13 in the case of an order that tolls or extends a time deadline 

14 for a period of less than 14 days.’’. 

15 (B) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of 

16 contents of chapter 9 of title 11, District of Co17 lumbia Official Code, is amended by adding at 

18 the end of the items relating to subchapter III 

19 the following: 

‘‘11–947. Emergency authority to toll or delay proceedings.’’. 

20 (2) PROCEEDINGS IN COURT OF APPEALS.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter III of chap22 ter 7 of title 11, District of Columbia Official 

23 Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol24 lowing new section: 


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1 ‘‘§ 11–745. Emergency authority to toll or delay pro2 ceedings. 

3 ‘‘(a) TOLLING OR DELAYING PROCEEDINGS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the event of a natural 

5 disaster or other emergency situation requiring the 

6 closure of the Court of Appeals or rendering it im7 practicable for the United States or District of Co8 lumbia Government or a class of litigants to comply 

9 with deadlines imposed by any Federal or District of 

10 Columbia law or rule that applies in the Court of 

11 Appeals, the chief judge of the Court of Appeals 

12 may exercise emergency authority in accordance with 

13 this section. 

14 ‘‘(2) SCOPE OF AUTHORITY.—The chief judge 

15 may enter such order or orders as may be appro16 priate to delay, toll, or otherwise grant relief from 

17 the time deadlines imposed by otherwise applicable 

18 laws or rules for such period as may be appropriate 

19 for any class of cases pending or thereafter filed in 

20 the Court of Appeals. 

21 ‘‘(3) UNAVAILABILITY OF CHIEF JUDGE.—If 

22 the chief judge of the Court of Appeals is absent or 

23 disabled, the authority conferred by this section may 

24 be exercised by the judge designated under section 

25 11–706(a) or by the Joint Committee on Judicial 

26 Administration. 


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1 ‘‘(4) HABEAS CORPUS UNAFFECTED.—Nothing 

2 in this section shall be construed to authorize sus3 pension of the writ of habeas corpus. 

4 ‘‘(b) ISSUANCE OF ORDERS.—The United States At5 torney for the District of Columbia or the Attorney Gen6 eral for the District of Columbia or the designee of either 

7 may request issuance of an order under this section, or 

8 the chief judge may act on his or her own motion. 

9 ‘‘(c) DURATION OF ORDERS.—An order entered 

10 under this section may not toll or extend a time deadline 

11 for a period of more than 14 days, except that if the chief 

12 judge determines that an emergency situation requires ad13 ditional extensions of the period during which deadlines 

14 are tolled or extended, the chief judge may, with the con15 sent of the Joint Committee on Judicial Administration, 

16 enter additional orders under this section in order to fur17 ther toll or extend such time deadline. 

18 ‘‘(d) NOTICE.—Upon issuing an order under this sec19 tion, the chief judge— 

20 ‘‘(1) shall make all reasonable efforts to pub21 licize the order, including, when possible, announcing 

22 the order on the District of Columbia Courts Web 

23 site; and 

24 ‘‘(2) shall send notice of the order, including 

25 the reasons for the issuance of the order, to the 


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1 Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

2 Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Over3 sight and Government Reform of the House of Rep4 resentatives. 

5 ‘‘(e) REQUIRED REPORTS.—Not later than 180 days 

6 after the expiration of the last extension or tolling of a 

7 time period made by the order or orders relating to an 

8 emergency situation, the chief judge shall submit a brief 

9 report to the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov10 ernmental Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on Over11 sight and Government Reform of the House of Represent12 atives, and the Joint Committee on Judicial Administra13 tion describing the orders, including— 

14 ‘‘(1) the reasons for issuing the orders; 

15 ‘‘(2) the duration of the orders; 

16 ‘‘(3) the effects of the orders on litigants; and 

17 ‘‘(4) the costs to the court resulting from the 

18 orders. 

19 ‘‘(f) EXCEPTIONS.—The notice under subsection 

20 (d)(2) and the report under subsection (e) are not required 

21 in the case of an order that tolls or extends a time deadline 

22 for a period of less than 14 days.’’. 

23 (B) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of 

24 contents of chapter 7 of title 11, District of Co25 lumbia Official Code, is amended by adding at 


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1 the end of the items relating to subchapter III 

2 the following: 

‘‘11–745. Emergency authority to toll or delay proceedings.’’. 

3 (c) PERMITTING AGREEMENTS TO PROVIDE SERV4 ICES ON A REIMBURSABLE BASIS TO OTHER DISTRICT

5 GOVERNMENT OFFICES.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 11–1742, District of 

7 Columbia Official Code, is amended by adding at the 

8 end the following new subsection: 

9 ‘‘(d) To prevent duplication and to promote efficiency 

10 and economy, the Executive Officer may enter into agree11 ments to provide the Mayor of the District of Columbia 

12 with equipment, supplies, and services and credit reim13 bursements received from the Mayor for such equipment, 

14 supplies, and services to the appropriation of the District 

15 of Columbia Courts against which they were charged.’’. 

16 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

17 by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to fiscal 

18 year 2010 and each succeeding fiscal year. 

19 SEC. 3. LIABILITY INSURANCE FOR PUBLIC DEFENDER 

20 SERVICE. 

21 Section 307 of the District of Columbia Court Re22 form and Criminal Procedure Act of 1970 (sec. 2–1607, 

23 D.C. Official Code) is amended by adding at the end the 

24 following new subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(e) The Service shall, to the extent the Director con2 siders appropriate, provide representation for and hold 

3 harmless, or provide liability insurance for, any person 

4 who is an employee, member of the Board of Trustees, 

5 or officer of the Service for money damages arising out 

6 of any claim, proceeding, or case at law relating to the 

7 furnishing of representational services or management 

8 services or related services under this Act while acting 

9 within the scope of that person’s office or employment, 

10 including but not limited to such claims, proceedings, or 

11 cases at law involving employment actions, injury, loss of 

12 liberty, property damage, loss of property, or personal in13 jury, or death arising from malpractice or negligence of 

14 any such officer or employee.’’. 

15 SEC. 4. REDUCTION IN TERM OF SERVICE OF JUDGES ON 

16 FAMILY COURT OF THE SUPERIOR COURT. 

17 (a) REDUCTION IN TERM OF SERVICE.—Section 11– 

18 908A(c)(1), District of Columbia Official Code, is amend19 ed by striking ‘‘5 years’’ and inserting ‘‘3 years’’. 

20 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

21 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to any individual 

22 serving as a judge on the Family Court of the Superior 


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1 Court of the District of Columbia on or after the date of 

2 the enactment of this Act. 

Passed the Senate July 9, 2012. 

Attest: NANCY ERICKSON, 

Secretary. 


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