Georgia House Judiciary Chairman Wendell Willard filed a bill regulating e-discovery based on recommendations by a task force of lawyers.

The legislation would, among its many provisions, restrict the frequency and the extent of discovery requests and would mandate discovery meetings between parties to hash out a plan early in a case. House Bill 643 won’t be eligible for legislative chamber votes until 2014, but Willard said he anticipates discussions surrounding the bill during the interim.

For more on the e-discovery task force’s recommendations see previous Daily Report article here.

State lawmakers have dropped the idea of allowing Georgia gun owners with concealed carry licenses to bring their firearms into unguarded courthouses, much to the relief of judges who feared they could become targets.

Douglas County Superior Court Judge David Emerson, president of the state Council of Superior Court Judges, said trial court judges “are pleased to see that the language that would have allowed firearms in unsecured courthouses has been removed from the proposed legislation.  We appreciate the wisdom of the legislators in listening to our concerns.”

The House today voted 116-55 to pass Senate Bill 101, which incorporated many provisions of a previous House bill expanding where guns may be carried to include places of worship, bars and college campuses under certain conditions.

Rep. Rick Jasperse, a retired county extension agent who sponsored the gun legislation in the House, said the courthouse carry allowance was removed from the Senate bill prior to the chamber floor vote at the request of judges’ councils and local sheriffs.

“We didn’t want to mislead anyone that they could bring in their guns into courthouses,” he said from the House floor. “Courthouses are under the sheriffs’ security plans and each county is mandated to have one.”

SB 101 also would eliminate the fingerprint requirement for concealed-carry license renewal, which must happen every five years.

Some probate court judges, who are tasked with issuing licenses, expressed concern that ceasing the requirement would lead to delays at gun retail checkout counters for lawfully licensed gun holders because they would have to submit to further background checks prior to purchase.

Jasperse said even though the fingerprint requirement would be removed, license holders would still be screened via federal and state law enforcement criminal record databases during the license renewal process. “I think we’ve answered the probate court judges’ questions,” he said.

State representatives have approved a bill raising contempt-of-court fines from $500 to $1,000 in a 116-49 vote today. Senate Bill 66 also would clarify in state law that filing answers or counterclaims in magistrate courts would not require verification under oath.

The bill was sponsored in the Senate by Judiciary Non-Civil Committee Chairman Jesse Stone, R-Waynesboro, and shepherded through the House by Rep. Mike Jacobs, R-Brookhaven. Both lawmakers are lawyers.

Jacobs told the House prior to the vote that the current $500 is “paltry” and “has not been increased in 30 years.” Jacobs also explained that when a complaint is filed in magistrate court, a verification under oath is required. Nothing in current law requires the same verification for answers or counterclaims, but judges in some circuits are requiring them any way, Jacobs said.

The bill states that verification is not necessary for answers or counterclaims because those filers “are going to have their day in court and will make their case in front of a judge,” Jacob told the House. Despite garnering 49 opposition votes, only one lawmaker expressed concerns about raising the contempt fines during the floor debate.

Rep. Earl Ehrhart, R-Powder Springs, a businessman, said that judges already can “take away a citizen’s freedom” by sentencing anyone who disobeys orders to up to 20 days in jail “just because they [the citizen] may have had a bad day.”

Legislation overhauling the state’s juvenile code and enacting juvenile justice reforms passed the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday evening but needs a few more votes before it can go to the governor’s desk.

This stage is as far as a similar bill filed last session went before stalling due to concerns over cost. “I hope to get it before the full Senate as quickly as I can. We did some further tweaking [during the Senate committee hearing], and I want to give the senators enough time to look over the bill,” said its sponsor, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Wendell Willard, R-Sandy Springs.

House Bill 242 would reorganize the 42-year-old juvenile code, which deals with neglected and delinquent youth. It also incorporates recommendations from the governor’s criminal justice reform council, including creating a two-tiered system of designated felonies and creating more community-based treatment programs to keep juvenile offenders out of detention centers.

Willard characterized the amendments made Wednesday as “nothing critical.” One of the changes would give judges more time in which to hold hearings for juveniles charged with status offenses, such as running away or truancy.

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Georgia’s Council of Superior Court Judges officially opposes a portion of a bill before the state Senate that would allow licensed gun owners to bring firearms into unguarded courthouses and judicial buildings.

In an interview last week, Douglas County Superior Court Judge David Emerson, who is president of the council, said the council was surprised by the provision after it passed the House of Representatives. Since then, he said today, “Our legislative committee has discussed that, and we are opposed.”

House Bill 512 would ease restrictions on where gun owners with concealed carry permits may bring their firearms. The provision opposed by the superior court judges’ council states that gun owners may carry their guns into government buildings and courthouses “where ingress to such building or courthouse is not restricted or screened by security personnel during the hours the government building or courthouse is open for business.”

The House approved the bill in a 117-56 vote on March 7. The bill is now before the Senate Judiciary Non-Civil Committee, which is chaired by Sen. Jesse Stone, R-Waynesboro, who is a lawyer. Stone could not be reached immediately to respond to the judges’ opposition.

DeKalb County Sheriff Thomas Brown also opposes carry provisions in the bill, known as the Safe Carry Protection Act. “Though named such, this bill is everything but safe for the citizens of this state,” Brown said in a written statement today.

Specifically, Brown pointed to provisions that would allow licensed gun owners to carry guns in government buildings, places of worship, bars and certain school safety zones; allow some individuals who had their  licenses revoked to regain eligibility; and remove fingerprinting requirements for license renewals.

The bill “was passed under an emotional move more than likely resulting from the urging of licensed gun holders with the desire to protect themselves without thinking of all the possible consequences and circumstances,” Brown said.

“In DeKalb, we have had several occasions in which victims, criminal suspects and even those in opposing civil legal positions have argued and even fought,” he added. “The only guns needed for protection of these individuals were the ones carried by my deputies. If those involved in courthouse conflicts possessed weapons, the outcomes would definitely have been different.”

For previous reporting on HB 512, go to http://www.dailyreportonline.com/PubArticleDRO.jsp?id=1202591517466

A 247-page bill overhauling the state’s 42-year-old juvenile code passed the Georgia House of Representatives this morning in a 173-0 vote. House Bill 242, sponsored by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Wendell Willard, R-Sandy Springs, also includes several recommendations from the governor’s criminal justice reform council focusing on juvenile offenders.

Those recommended policy changes include creating two tiers of designated felonies and rerouting low-risk juvenile offenders to community-based treatment programs rather than youth detention centers. Willard said the measures are expected to save the state $85 million over the next five years and avoid the need to build two new residential detention centers.

The same chamber unanimously passed the juvenile code overhaul last year, which deals primarily with neglected and delinquent youth. However, that bill was held up in the Senate after prosecutors, indigent defense lawyers and county governments expressed concerns over how much the bill would cost to implement.

Willard’s bill this year softened some mandates on the involvement of prosecutors and indigent defense lawyers in juvenile court proceedings to address those cost burden concerns. “Doing what is the right thing for our children is not a partisan issue,” Willard told the House chamber before the vote.

A bill that would give insurers at least 30 days to respond to a settlement before a bad faith claim could be brought against them has passed one chamber of the Georgia General Assembly.

State representatives approved House Bill 336 on Wednesday in a 163-0 vote.

HB 336 pertains only to torts claiming personal injury, bodily injury or death arising from the use of a motor vehicle. It also is limited to regulating offers of settlement submitted prior to the filing of a lawsuit.

The bill is the product of negotiations among a secret group of plaintiffs’ and insurance defense lawyers convened by the speaker of the House earlier this year. Its lead sponsor is Rep. Jay Powell, R-Camilla, a general practice lawyer and former mayor.

HB 336 also would require that all settlement offers contain specific information, such as the amount of payment and release details, and would allow insurers to request clarification on the facts of the case without that request constituting a counteroffer.

The Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, which fought legislation last session that sought to regulate bad faith claims and Holt demands, said it accepts HB 336. The Georgia Chamber of Commerce says it supports codifying and extending the time for response to demand letters and clarifying who the third  party insurer must pay.

The House Judiciary Committee today approved a bill regulating Holt demands and bad faith claims in personal injury and wrongful death cases related to motor vehicles.

House Bill 336 would give insurers at least 30 days to respond to a settlement offer before a bad faith claim could be brought against them. It would require that all settlement offers contain the specific time period in which the offers must be accepted, the amount of payment, the parties the claimants would release, the type of release and the claims to be released.

The bill also would allow insurers to request clarification on the facts of the case, including term limits, liens, subrogation and standing to release claims, and medical bills and records, without the insurers’ requests constituting a counteroffer.

Besides being limited only to motor vehicle cases, the bill is limited to regulating offers of settlement submitted prior to the filing of a lawsuit.

HB 336, sponsored by Rep. Jay Powell, R-Camilla, is the result of  negotiations among a secret group of lawyers from both plaintiffs’ and insurance defense practices commissioned before the session started in January by the speaker of the House.

The Georgia Legislature considered similar legislation last session, including House Bill 1175, which would have allowed an insurer 60 days to respond to a settlement offer and required offers to include copies of medical records and billing statements.

Judiciary Committee approval means HB 336 will go to the House Rules Committee, which will decide when it comes up for a vote by the full chamber.

The combined juvenile code rewrite and juvenile justice reform bill has cleared its first hurdle.

The House Judiciary Committee, whose chairman is sponsoring House Bill 242, approved the bill on Tuesday. It will now go to the House Rules Committee, which will decide when it comes up for a full vote by the chamber.

HB 242 is the marriage of previous efforts to overhaul the state’s 42-year-old juvenile code and recommendations by the governor’s criminal justice reform council aimed at curbing youth offender recidivism and how much the state pays to house them in detention centers.

The bill was filed Feb. 7, the same day state Supreme Court Chief Justice Carol Hunstein used her last State of the Judiciary address to push for juvenile justice reform.

The bill sponsor, Rep. Wendell Willard, R-Sandy Springs, says the bill addresses “troubled children and children in trouble.”

Some of its provisions include a two-tiered scheme for designated felonies and the creation of community-based treatment programs for juveniles.

For more information on the bill, go to the Daily Report’s archives: http://www.dailyreportonline.com/PubArticleDRO.jsp?id=1202588653795.

A bill allowing superior court judges to issue wiretap warrants with statewide applicability is among the first pieces of legislation signed into law by the governor this session.

Governor Nathan Deal signed House Bill 55 today.

The bill amends the current wiretap law and overrides a January state Supreme Court decision limiting applicability to the jurisdiction in which the wiretap listening post is located.

The bill was strongly backed by the District Attorneys’ Association of Georgia and zipped through both chambers of the General Assembly.