BJA Rules - Board of Judicial Administration Rules

• Proposed Changes to BJA Rules - Board of Judicial Administration Rules (in Word Format)
• Comments Received for BJA Rules - Board of Judicial Administration Rules

GR 9 COVER SHEET

Suggested Amendments

TO THE

BOARD FOR JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION (BJA)

RULES

(Hearing is Not Recommended)

Submitted by the Board for Judicial Administration

A. Name of Proponent: The Board for Judicial Administration

B. Spokespersons:

● Chief Justice Mary Fairhurst, Chair

● Judge Judy Jasprica, District and Municipal Court Judges’ Association, Pierce County District Court, Member Chair

● Jeanne Englert, Administrative Manager, BJA

Purpose: This is a request to revise and update the BJA Rules (BJAR). Both the BJA Rules and Bylaws were reviewed to ensure they accurately reflect current practice and needs. Changes were recommended to the Rules to reflect current practices, provide clarification or simplify language, and to move items to the document that makes the most sense.

C. To accomplish this, the BJA formed an ad hoc committee to evaluate the BJA bylaws and rules. The Ad Hoc Committee was comprised of a representatives from BJA committees and each court level. The Bylaws and Rules Ad Hoc Committee members were Chief Justice Mary Fairhurst, Judge Dan Johnson, and Judge Blaine Gibson. The BJAR Preamble, and Rule 1, 4, and 5 were last adopted in January 2000; Rule 2 was last adopted in July 2017; and Rule 3 was last adopted in September 2014.

The Ad Hoc Committee reviewed the BJA Bylaws and Rules and made several recommendations, including:

● Terms of office and membership are commonly defined in rules by other committees and should be defined in the BJAR.

● Information was added or deleted from the BJAR to conform with the BJA Bylaws.

● Redundant information was removed. Information in the BJAR was moved under a different rule where appropriate.

● Information was moved to the BJA Bylaws where appropriate.

● A section was added to the BJAR authorizing the BJA membership to develop, adopt, and amend bylaws by a majority vote.

● Language in the BJAR was updated to reflect current practice.

● The language in the BJAR was clarified and simplified.

These changes were reviewed by members and non-members of the BJA, revised as appropriate, and approved by majority vote of BJA members.

D. A hearing is not recommended.

E. Expedited consideration is not requested.