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[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1379 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        S.1379

                      One Hundred Twelfth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America

                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
            the third day of January, two thousand and twelve

                                 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.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
    This Act may be cited as the ``D.C. Courts and Public Defender 
Service Act of 2011''.
SEC. 2. AUTHORITIES OF DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COURTS.
    (a) Permitting Judicial Conference on Biennial Basis; Attendance of 
Magistrate Judges.--Section 11-744, District of Columbia Official Code, 
is amended--
        (1) in the first sentence, by striking ``annually'' and 
    inserting ``biennially or annually'';
        (2) in the first sentence, by striking ``active judges'' and 
    inserting ``active judges and magistrate judges'';
        (3) in the third sentence, by striking ``Every judge'' and 
    inserting ``Every judge and magistrate judge''; and
        (4) in the third sentence, by striking ``Courts of Appeals'' 
    and inserting ``Court of Appeals''.
    (b) Emergency Authority To Toll or Delay Judicial Proceedings.--
        (1) Proceedings in superior court.--
            (A) In general.--Subchapter III of Chapter 9 of title 11, 
        District of Columbia Official Code, is amended by adding at the 
        end the following new section:
``Sec. 11-947. Emergency authority to toll or delay proceedings.
    ``(a) Tolling or Delaying Proceedings.--
        ``(1) In general.--In the event of a natural disaster or other 
    emergency situation requiring the closure of Superior Court or 
    rendering it impracticable for the United States or District of 
    Columbia Government or a class of litigants to comply with 
    deadlines imposed by any Federal or District of Columbia law or 
    rule that applies in the Superior Court, the chief judge of the 
    Superior Court may exercise emergency authority in accordance with 
    this section.
        ``(2) Scope of authority.--(A) The chief judge may enter such 
    order or orders as may be appropriate to delay, toll, or otherwise 
    grant relief from the time deadlines imposed by otherwise 
    applicable laws or rules for such period as may be appropriate for 
    any class of cases pending or thereafter filed in the Superior 
    Court.
        ``(B) The authority conferred by this section extends to all 
    laws and rules affecting criminal and juvenile proceedings 
    (including, pre-arrest, post-arrest, pretrial, trial, and post-
    trial procedures) and civil, family, domestic violence, probate and 
    tax proceedings.
        ``(3) Unavailability of chief judge.--If the chief judge of the 
    Superior Court is absent or disabled, the authority conferred by 
    this section may be exercised by the judge designated under section 
    11-907(a) or by the Joint Committee on Judicial Administration.
        ``(4) Habeas corpus unaffected.--Nothing in this section shall 
    be construed to authorize suspension of the writ of habeas corpus.
    ``(b) Criminal Cases.--In exercising the authority under this 
section for criminal cases, the chief judge shall consider the ability 
of the United States or District of Columbia Government to investigate, 
litigate, and process defendants during and after the emergency 
situation, as well as the ability of criminal defendants as a class to 
prepare their defenses.
    ``(c) Issuance of Orders.--The United States Attorney for the 
District of Columbia or the Attorney General for the District of 
Columbia or the designee of either may request issuance of an order 
under this section, or the chief judge may act on his or her own 
motion.
    ``(d) Duration of Orders.--An order entered under this section may 
not toll or extend a time deadline for a period of more than 14 days, 
except that if the chief judge determines that an emergency situation 
requires additional extensions of the period during which deadlines are 
tolled or extended, the chief judge may, with the consent of the Joint 
Committee on Judicial Administration, enter additional orders under 
this section in order to further toll or extend such time deadline.
    ``(e) Notice.--Upon issuing an order under this section, the chief 
judge--
        ``(1) shall make all reasonable efforts to publicize the order, 
    including, when possible, announcing the order on the District of 
    Columbia Courts Web site; and
        ``(2) shall send notice of the order, including the reasons for 
    the issuance of the order, to the Committee on Homeland Security 
    and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 
    Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Representatives.
    ``(f) Required Reports.--Not later than 180 days after the 
expiration of the last extension or tolling of a time period made by 
the order or orders relating to an emergency situation, the chief judge 
shall submit a brief report to the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on Oversight and 
Government Reform of the House of Representatives, and the Joint 
Committee on Judicial Administration describing the orders, including--
        ``(1) the reasons for issuing the orders;
        ``(2) the duration of the orders;
        ``(3) the effects of the orders on litigants; and
        ``(4) the costs to the court resulting from the orders.
    ``(g) Exceptions.--The notice under subsection (e)(2) and the 
report under subsection (f) are not required in the case of an order 
that tolls or extends a time deadline for a period of less than 14 
days.''.
            (B) Clerical amendment.--The table of contents of chapter 9 
        of title 11, District of Columbia Official Code, is amended by 
        adding at the end of the items relating to subchapter III the 
        following:

``11-947. Emergency authority to toll or delay proceedings.''.

        (2) Proceedings in court of appeals.--
            (A) In general.--Subchapter III of chapter 7 of title 11, 
        District of Columbia Official Code, is amended by adding at the 
        end the following new section:
``Sec. 11-745. Emergency authority to toll or delay proceedings.
    ``(a) Tolling or Delaying Proceedings.--
        ``(1) In general.--In the event of a natural disaster or other 
    emergency situation requiring the closure of the Court of Appeals 
    or rendering it impracticable for the United States or District of 
    Columbia Government or a class of litigants to comply with 
    deadlines imposed by any Federal or District of Columbia law or 
    rule that applies in the Court of Appeals, the chief judge of the 
    Court of Appeals may exercise emergency authority in accordance 
    with this section.
        ``(2) Scope of authority.--The chief judge may enter such order 
    or orders as may be appropriate to delay, toll, or otherwise grant 
    relief from the time deadlines imposed by otherwise applicable laws 
    or rules for such period as may be appropriate for any class of 
    cases pending or thereafter filed in the Court of Appeals.
        ``(3) Unavailability of chief judge.--If the chief judge of the 
    Court of Appeals is absent or disabled, the authority conferred by 
    this section may be exercised by the judge designated under section 
    11-706(a) or by the Joint Committee on Judicial Administration.
        ``(4) Habeas corpus unaffected.--Nothing in this section shall 
    be construed to authorize suspension of the writ of habeas corpus.
    ``(b) Issuance of Orders.--The United States Attorney for the 
District of Columbia or the Attorney General for the District of 
Columbia or the designee of either may request issuance of an order 
under this section, or the chief judge may act on his or her own 
motion.
    ``(c) Duration of Orders.--An order entered under this section may 
not toll or extend a time deadline for a period of more than 14 days, 
except that if the chief judge determines that an emergency situation 
requires additional extensions of the period during which deadlines are 
tolled or extended, the chief judge may, with the consent of the Joint 
Committee on Judicial Administration, enter additional orders under 
this section in order to further toll or extend such time deadline.
    ``(d) Notice.--Upon issuing an order under this section, the chief 
judge--
        ``(1) shall make all reasonable efforts to publicize the order, 
    including, when possible, announcing the order on the District of 
    Columbia Courts Web site; and
        ``(2) shall send notice of the order, including the reasons for 
    the issuance of the order, to the Committee on Homeland Security 
    and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 
    Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Representatives.
    ``(e) Required Reports.--Not later than 180 days after the 
expiration of the last extension or tolling of a time period made by 
the order or orders relating to an emergency situation, the chief judge 
shall submit a brief report to the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on Oversight and 
Government Reform of the House of Representatives, and the Joint 
Committee on Judicial Administration describing the orders, including--
        ``(1) the reasons for issuing the orders;
        ``(2) the duration of the orders;
        ``(3) the effects of the orders on litigants; and
        ``(4) the costs to the court resulting from the orders.
    ``(f) Exceptions.--The notice under subsection (d)(2) and the 
report under subsection (e) are not required in the case of an order 
that tolls or extends a time deadline for a period of less than 14 
days.''.
            (B) Clerical amendment.--The table of contents of chapter 7 
        of title 11, District of Columbia Official Code, is amended by 
        adding at the end of the items relating to subchapter III the 
        following:

``11-745. Emergency authority to toll or delay proceedings.''.

    (c) Permitting Agreements To Provide Services on a Reimbursable 
Basis to Other District Government Offices.--
        (1) In general.--Section 11-1742, District of Columbia Official 
    Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(d) To prevent duplication and to promote efficiency and economy, 
the Executive Officer may enter into agreements to provide the Mayor of 
the District of Columbia with equipment, supplies, and services and 
credit reimbursements received from the Mayor for such equipment, 
supplies, and services to the appropriation of the District of Columbia 
Courts against which they were charged.''.
        (2) Effective date.--The amendment made by paragraph (1) shall 
    apply with respect to fiscal year 2010 and each succeeding fiscal 
    year.
SEC. 3. LIABILITY INSURANCE FOR PUBLIC DEFENDER SERVICE.
    Section 307 of the District of Columbia Court Reform and Criminal 
Procedure Act of 1970 (sec. 2-1607, D.C. Official Code) is amended by 
adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(e) The Service shall, to the extent the Director considers 
appropriate, provide representation for and hold harmless, or provide 
liability insurance for, any person who is an employee, member of the 
Board of Trustees, or officer of the Service for money damages arising 
out of any claim, proceeding, or case at law relating to the furnishing 
of representational services or management services or related services 
under this Act while acting within the scope of that person's office or 
employment, including but not limited to such claims, proceedings, or 
cases at law involving employment actions, injury, loss of liberty, 
property damage, loss of property, or personal injury, or death arising 
from malpractice or negligence of any such officer or employee.''.
SEC. 4. REDUCTION IN TERM OF SERVICE OF JUDGES ON FAMILY COURT OF THE 
SUPERIOR COURT.
    (a) Reduction in Term of Service.--Section 11-908A(c)(1), District 
of Columbia Official Code, is amended by striking ``5 years'' and 
inserting ``3 years''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply with respect to any individual serving as a judge on the Family 
Court of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia on or after the 
date of the enactment of this Act.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.
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