Bill Text: CT SB00291 | 2013 | General Assembly | Comm Sub
Bill Title: An Act Concerning Procedures For Determining The Potential Disqualification Of A Judicial Branch Official And Establishing A Process That Allows The Office Of The Attorney General To Review Complaints Of Wrongdoing By Municipal Police Departments.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-04-11 - Public Hearing 04/15 [SB00291 Detail]
Download: Connecticut-2013-SB00291-Comm_Sub.html
General Assembly |
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January Session, 2013 |
LCO No. 5423 | ||
*05423SB00291JUD* | |||
Referred to Committee on JUDICIARY |
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Introduced by: |
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(JUD) |
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AN ACT CONCERNING PROCEDURES FOR DETERMINING THE POTENTIAL DISQUALIFICATION OF A JUDICIAL BRANCH OFFICIAL AND ESTABLISHING A PROCESS THAT ALLOWS THE OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL TO REVIEW COMPLAINTS OF WRONGDOING BY MUNICIPAL POLICE DEPARTMENTS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 51-39 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2013):
(a) Except as provided in this section, a judge or family support magistrate is disqualified to act if a relationship between the judge or family support magistrate and a party in any proceeding in court before him or her is as near as the degree of kinship between father and son, brothers, or uncle and nephew, by nature or marriage, or as near as between landlord and tenant, or if any judge or family support magistrate may be liable to contribute to the damages, costs or expenses of any proceeding before him or her, or if he or she may receive a direct pecuniary benefit by the determination of any proceeding before him or her.
(b) A judge or family support magistrate shall not be disqualified to act in any proceeding by reason of his or her being a member of any ecclesiastical corporation, unless it is a party to the action, nor in any proceeding in which any town, city or borough is interested or is a party, by reason of his or her being an inhabitant thereof or liable to taxation therein or by reason of his or her being related to any taxpayer or inhabitant thereof.
(c) Prior to the commencement of a judicial proceeding, a judge or family support magistrate shall conduct, in open court, an inquiry of the parties for purposes of ascertaining whether circumstances exist that may result in the judge or family magistrate being disqualified under the provisions of this section or under the state Code of Judicial Conduct. When any judge or family support magistrate is disqualified to act in any proceeding before him or her, he or she may act if the parties thereto consent in open court.
Sec. 2. (Effective from passage) (a) The Legislative Program Review and Investigations Committee shall study potential conflicts of interest that arise in the criminal justice system between a criminal defendant and an employee of the Judicial Branch, Office of the Chief State's Attorney or office of the Chief Public Defender. The study shall examine the implementation of processes and procedures that ensure that prior to the disposition of any criminal matter, an employee of the Judicial Branch, Office of the Chief State's Attorney or office of the Chief Public Defender shall disclose to a criminal defendant any facts or circumstances that may be construed as creating a potential conflict of interest between such employee and a criminal defendant.
(b) Not later than February 1, 2014, said committee shall submit a report of its findings and recommendations with respect to the study specified in subsection (a) of this section to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the judiciary, in accordance with section 11-4a of the general statutes.
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2013) (a) Any person having knowledge of any matter involving corruption, unethical practices, violation of state laws or regulations, mismanagement, gross waste of funds, abuse of authority or danger to the public safety occurring in any municipal police department may report all facts and information in such person's possession concerning such matter to the office of the Attorney General. Upon receiving such a report, the Attorney General, or a designee, may make such investigation, if any, as the Attorney General deems proper regarding such report and any other information that may be reasonably derived from such report.
(b) (1) The office of the Attorney General may reject any report received pursuant to subsection (a) of this section if the office determines one or more of the following:
(A) There are other available remedies that the complainant can reasonably be expected to pursue;
(B) The matters reported are better suited for investigation or enforcement by another state agency or federal agency;
(C) The matters reported are trivial, frivolous, vexatious or not made in good faith; or
(D) The matters reported are not timely or are delayed too long to justify further investigation.
(2) If the office of the Attorney General rejects a report pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection, the office shall provide notice to the complainant setting out the basis for the rejection.
(c) The Attorney General, or a designee, may summon witnesses, require the production of any necessary books, papers or other documents and administer oaths to witnesses, where necessary, for the purpose of an investigation pursuant to this section. Upon the conclusion of the investigation, the Attorney General or a designee shall, where necessary, report any findings involving criminal activity to the Chief State's Attorney. The office of the Attorney General (1) shall not, after receipt of any information from a person under the provisions of this section, disclose the identity of such person without such person's consent unless the office determines that such disclosure is unavoidable, and (2) may withhold records of such investigation, during the pendency of the investigation.
(d) (1) No municipal police department shall take or threaten to take any personnel action against any person in retaliation for (A) such person's disclosure of information to an employee of the office of the Attorney General under the provisions of subsection (a) of this section; or (B) such person's testimony or assistance in any proceeding under this section.
(2) (A) A person alleging that a personnel action has been threatened or has occurred, in violation of subdivision (1) of this subsection, may file a complaint against the municipal police department concerning such personnel action with the Chief Human Rights Referee designated under section 46a-57of the general statutes. Such complaint may be amended if an additional incident giving rise to a claim under this subdivision occurs subsequent to the filing of the original complaint. The Chief Human Rights Referee shall assign the complaint to a human rights referee appointed under section 46a-57 of the general statutes, who shall conduct a hearing and issue a decision concerning whether the officer or employee taking or threatening to take the personnel action violated any provision of this section. The human rights referee may order a municipal police department to produce (i) an employee of such department to testify as a witness in any proceeding under this subdivision, or (ii) books, papers or other documents relevant to the complaint, without issuing a subpoena. If such municipal police department fails to produce such witness, books, papers or documents, not later than thirty days after such order, the human rights referee may consider such failure as supporting evidence for the complainant. If, after the hearing, the human rights referee finds a violation, the referee may award the aggrieved employee reinstatement to the employee's former position, back pay and reestablishment of any employee benefits for which the employee would otherwise have been eligible if such violation had not occurred, reasonable attorneys' fees, and any other damages. For the purposes of this subsection, such human rights referee shall act as an independent hearing officer. The decision of a human rights referee under this subsection may be appealed by any person who was a party at such hearing, in accordance with the provisions of section 4-183 of the general statutes.
(B) The Chief Human Rights Referee shall adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes, establishing the procedure for filing complaints and noticing and conducting hearings under subparagraph (A) of this subdivision.
(3) In any proceeding under subdivision (2) of this subsection concerning a personnel action taken or threatened against any person, which personnel action occurs not later than two years after the person first transmits facts and information concerning a matter under subsection (a) of this section or discloses information under subdivision (1) of this subsection to the office of the Attorney General, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the personnel action is in retaliation for the action taken by the employee under subsection (a) of this section or subdivision (1) of this subsection.
(e) On or before September first, annually, the office of the Attorney General shall submit, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes, to the clerk of each house of the General Assembly a report indicating the number of matters for which facts and information were transmitted to the office pursuant to this section during the preceding state fiscal year and the disposition of each such matter.
(f) No person who, in good faith, discloses information in accordance with the provisions of this section shall be liable for any civil damages resulting from such good faith disclosure.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections: | ||
Section 1 |
October 1, 2013 |
51-39 |
Sec. 2 |
from passage |
New section |
Sec. 3 |
October 1, 2013 |
New section |
Statement of Purpose:
To (1) require Judicial Branch officials to conduct inquiries of the parties to a proceeding to ascertain whether circumstances exist that would result in the disqualification of the judge or family magistrate, and (2) permit the office of the Attorney General to investigate complaints of wrong doing in municipal police departments.
[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.]