Bill would make Public Advocate appointment process mirror Public Defender nominations

House Bill 58, which would make the selection process for the Office of Public Advocacy’s Public Advocate analogous to the Public Defender nomination process, was set aside for further consideration after invited testimony from the Alaska Judicial Council.

Courtney Owen, staff to Representative Fields, told the committee HB 58 “offers a structural fix by making the selection process for the public advocate analogous with that of the public defender.” Owen said the bill responds to recurring conflicts of interest that arose after the Office of Public Advocacy was created in 1984 to handle cases where the Public Defender Agency had conflicts.

Suzanne DiPietro, executive director of the Alaska Judicial Council, described the council’s current process for screening and nominating Public Defender applicants as a model for the Public Advocate. DiPietro explained the council issues a vacancy announcement to the Alaska Bar Association, collects an extensive application (she said about 27 pages), solicits confidential waivers and references, surveys members of the Alaska Bar for performance feedback, conducts staff investigations contacting recent legal employers and judges, holds a public comment hearing, interviews each applicant for roughly 45 minutes, and then nominates at least two of the most qualified candidates to the governor.

DiPietro said the council’s standard is to nominate the most qualified candidates and that it “must nominate two but may nominate more than two individuals,” after which the governor selects an appointee. Committee members asked no substantive follow-up questions at the hearing and the bill was set aside for later consideration and any required statutory drafting.

No public testimony was received during the committee’s open comment period on this item.