MEMORANDUM

 

TO:                       Nyasha Smith, Secretary to the Council

               

FROM:               Phil Mendelson, Chairman

                                                               

DATE:                March 31, 2022

 

RE:                       Request to Place Measures on the Agenda for April 5, 2022 Legislative Meeting

 

            Please place the following measures on the agenda for the April 5, 2022 Legislative Meeting:

 

• Executive Director of the Criminal Code Reform Commission Jinwoo Park Appointment Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2022
• Executive Director of the Criminal Code Reform Commission Jinwoo Park Appointment Emergency Resolution of 2022
• Criminal Code Reform Commission Executive Director Salary Establishment Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2022
• Criminal Code Reform Commission Executive Director Salary Establishment Emergency Amendment Act of 2022
• Criminal Code Reform Commission Executive Director Salary Establishment Temporary Amendment Act of 2022

 

Appointment of Jinwoo Park: This is a Council appointment. This legislation would appoint Jinwoo Park as Executive Director of the Criminal Code Reform Commission (CCRC).

 

            Mr. Park currently serves as Acting Executive Director of the CCRC. Prior to assuming that position, he served as a Senior Attorney Advisor with the agency since its inception, and

previously worked with its predecessor agency as part of the Sentencing and Criminal Code

Revision Commission. Mr. Park has been directly involved with the creation of the Revised

Criminal Code Act of 2021, which is currently under consideration by the Council.

 

Mr. Park has had a broad range of responsibilities during his tenure at CCRC. He had direct responsibility for revising the statutes for many of the District’s most serious criminal offenses, including laws related to murder, kidnapping, and robbery. He also advised on a wide array of legal and policy issues, such as how the revised criminal code should define “self-defense” and the appropriate time for liability to attach to defendants for the conduct of others. Mr. Park was involved in many non-legal tasks related to the agency’s overall mission, including assisting in the design of a survey taken by hundreds of District residents to assess the public’s views on the relative severity of various criminal offenses.

 

Prior to coming to CCRC, Mr. Park also gained significant experience clerking for judges on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals and the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.

 

Salary Establishment: This legislation would establish the salary of the Executive Director of the Criminal Code Reform Commission (CCRC) at $170,000.00, inclusive of fringe benefits.

 

The CCRC is an independent agency responsible for submitting to the Mayor and Council recommendations for comprehensive criminal code reform, among other duties. Pursuant to section 3122(c)(1) of the Fiscal Year 2017 Budget Support Act of 2016, effective October 8, 2016 (D.C. Law 21-160; D.C. Official Code § 3–151(c)(1)), the rate of compensation for the Executive Director shall be established by the Council periodically. The Council last approved an annual salary of $160,587.69 for the Executive Director position in October 2016. The proposed increase is approximately 6% greater than the current allocation and can be absorbed in the current agency budget.

 

With the appointment of a new Executive Director taking place, the Council must set a current rate of compensation.