[§613-2]  Establishment of the center for
alternative dispute resolution.  (a)  There is established within the
judiciary the center for alternative dispute resolution.  The center shall
facilitate the effective, timely, and voluntary resolution of disputes. 
Through these resolutions, it shall help reduce public and private costs of
litigation and increase satisfaction with the justice system.  The center shall
accomplish its purposes by:



(1)  Providing, where feasible and agreed to by the
parties, the consultative resources and technical assistance needed to achieve
voluntary resolutions for cases that affect the public interest or the work of
state and county agencies.  These cases shall include but not be limited to:



(A)  Public disputes involving actual or
threatened court actions over the allocation or management of public resources
or the siting of public facilities;



(B)  Complex litigation cases in which a court
or a regulatory or administrative agency has determined that the dispute
involves multiple parties or formidable technical, procedural, or factual
issues, or both;



(C)  Policy roundtables in which the center, at
the request of an executive, legislative, or judicial decisionmaker, convenes
and chairs advisory discussions on matters pertaining to standards or rules;
and



(D)  Other cases directly referred by judges,
legislators, agency heads, or appointed government officials;



(2)  Promoting in a systematic manner the appropriate
use of alternative dispute resolution; and



(3)  Disseminating to government agencies and to the
community at large up-to-date information on the methods and applications of
alternative dispute resolution.



(b)  The center shall be organized, guided, and
administratively maintained by the chief justice or the chief justice's
designee.  The chief justice shall appoint a director of the center.  The
director may hire staff necessary to accomplish the purposes of this chapter,
including but not limited to an assistant director and a program specialist. 
The director, assistant director, and program specialist shall have substantial
experience, training, and education in the methodologies of alternative dispute
resolution.  Employees of the center shall be exempt from chapter 76, shall not
be considered civil service employees, but shall be entitled to any employee
benefit plan normally inuring to civil service employees. [L 1989, c 346, pt of
§2; am L 1991, c 131, §1; L 2000, c 253, §150]