Rulemaking

100 100 250 500 250 (a) Uniform Policy. The supreme court shall make and promulgate rules governing administration of all courts, and practice and procedure in civil and criminal cases in all courts. The rules shall be uniform throughout the Alaska Court System. (b) Request for Rulemaking. Any person may propose new rules or changes in present rules to the supreme court. Each proposal must: (1) be in writing; (2) include any language proposed for change; (3) include the reason for the suggested rule or change; and (4) be submitted to the court rules attorney at the Anchorage Office of the Administrative Director of Courts. The court rules attorney shall review each proposal. If the proposal is unclear or in need of further documentation, the rules attorney shall contact the person submitting the proposal and seek clarification. (c) Major or Minor Change. The rules attorney shall determine whether a proposal is a major or minor rule change. All proposals for new rules and all proposals affecting substantial rights of litigants are major. Minor rules changes are those which are technical in nature. (d) Minor Change. The rules attorney shall submit a minor rules change proposal directly to the supreme court along with a summary of the proposal, any relevant back- ground information, and proposed orders in both plain text and legislative form. The chief justice shall calendar a review of the proposal at an appropriate administrative conference. Following review, the supreme court may adopt or reject the proposal, refer it to a rules committee for review, or assign it to the rules attorney for further research or review. (e) Major Change. The rules attorney shall refer major rules change proposals to the appropriate rules committee. The committee shall review the proposal, determine if a draft should be circulated to the bar or other interested persons for comment, and determine whether to support or oppose the change. If no circulation was made, the reason for this decision shall be conveyed to the supreme court when the rules proposal is referred to the court for consideration. The rules attorney shall prepare a summary of the proposal, the committee’s recommendation, any other relevant background information, and proposed orders in both plain text and legislative form for the court’s consideration. The chief justice shall calendar a review of proposals that a rules committee recommends at an appropriate administrative conference. Following review, the supreme court may adopt or reject the proposal in whole or in part, refer the proposal to the same or a different committee for further study, direct circulation for comment, or assign the proposal to the rules attorney for further research or review. (f) Public Information. The following material in rule change files is public information and is available for review 66 RULES OF ADMINISTRATION by members of the public upon request, unless otherwise ordered by the court: (1) original rule change proposals; (2) materials considered by rules committees, including proposal drafts, memoranda submitted to or prepared by the committee, and correspondence; the notice, if any, shall be provided to those affected by the rule change. Notice of the adopted rules changes shall be posted on the court system’s website. (Adopted by SCO 630 effective September 15, 1985; renumbered by SCO 656 effective September 15, 1985; amended by SCO 858 effective December 16, 1987; and by SCO 1624 effective April 16, 2007) (3) meeting minutes;