Judiciary Interim Committee

changes. Then the bill should be scheduled again on the agenda for further discussion, he said. If the committee is like him, he explained, it will take some wrestling with the issues before solid opinions are formed. He suggested that this process would help the committee determine what position it would like to ultimately take.

    The committee discussed the bill at length and made the following recommendations.

Provision - Intestate Succession 75-2-102 (surviving spouse)

    MOTION: Sen. Hillyard moved to delete $150,000 plus ½ of excess if surviving spouse is parent of all of descendant's children and has a child by another (decedent's stepchild)." The motion passed unanimously with Rep. Hickman absent for the vote.

    MOTION: Sen. Hillyard moved to delete $100,000 and insert $50,000 plus ½ of excess if not all of decedent's descendants are descendant's of surviving spouse. The motion passed with Rep. Baca opposing. Rep. Hickman was absent for the vote.

    MOTION: Sen. Hillyard moved that if the amount is below $10,000 then it should go to the surviving spouse and not to descendants. Sen. Taylor spoke against the motion. The motion passed with Sen. Taylor, Rep. Arent, Rep. Baca, and Rep. Way opposing. Rep. Hickman was absent for the vote.

    MOTION: Sen. Taylor moved to reverse Sen. Hillyard's first motion, that the law remain as currently written and not to adopt either the Uniform provision or Sen. Hillyard's motion. The motion failed on a roll call vote with Sen. Hillyard, Rep. Harward, Rep. Arent, Rep. Arrington, Rep. Bradshaw, and Rep. Johnson opposing. Rep. Hickman was absent for the vote.

Provision - Elective Share 75-2-201 et seq.    

     MOTION: Sen. Taylor moved that it stay at 1/3 and include life insurance on cash value. The motion failed with Rep. Harward, Rep. Arent, Rep. Baca, Rep. Bradshaw, Rep. Bryson, and Rep. Rowan opposing. Sen. Hillyard was absent for the vote.

    Chair Harward recommended to those who will be drafting the bill, to make these changes and return for further discussion on the bill.

3.    Office of Recovery Services and Noncustodial Parents

    Rep. David L. Gladwell explained that he had suggested that this issue be taken off the agenda until he could focus more clearly on the direction he would like to take. However, he

said, he wanted to share with the committee his concerns about child support although he will not presently sponsor a bill on the issue. He said that his original idea was to review the administrative powers of the Office of Recovery Services (ORS) to determine if punitive effects could be reduced. He expressed concern that the non-custodial parent is being harmed by the collection process.

    Ms. Greta Rock, Citizen, said she was a mother of a non-custodial parent. Her concerns were threefold: 1) income withholding is being used even if the non-custodial parent is not delinquent; 2) due process is not granted before implementing income withholding; and 3) automatic income withholding for no cause has harmed employee, employer relations. She said that her son was denied promotion because of income withholding.

    Ms. Emma Chacon, Director, Office of Recovery Services, responded to Ms. Rock's concerns. She said immediate income withholding is required under federal and state law even though the non-custodial parent is not delinquent. She explained that parties are presumed to have notice of the income withholding provision at the time the order is established. Only material issues of fact can be raised as a challenge to income withholding once the order has been established. She said that the order can be modified by going back to court if an alternative agreement is reached or for a finding of good cause. She also explained that the state and federal law prohibit employers from taking any negative action against an employee on the basis of income withholding.

4.    Evaluation Criteria for the Selection of Judicial Nominees

    Sen. Craig L. Taylor introduced this issue and explained that Article VIII, Section 8 of the Utah Constitution requires the legislature to adopt judicial nominating procedures. The Legislature has not adopted such procedures but has deferred to the court to establish the procedures. The Judicial Council has done this but, he said, the rules allow minorities on Judicial Nominating Commissions to band together to get their nominee's name to the governor for appointment. This adversely effects the pool of candidates, he said, from which the governor appoints. Sen. Taylor also said that s ince January, the nominating commission has voluntarily submitted five names to the governor for vacancies in the Third Judicial District although the statute only requires three names to be submitted. He said this process brings to the forefront the issue of separation of powers and who should have how much say in the process.

5.     Adjournment

    MOTION: Rep. Arent moved to adjourn the meeting at 4:39 p.m. The motion passed unanimously.