By Allie Winter, LAW WEEK COLORADO
The Colorado Bar Association holds its semiannual board of governors meeting 9:30 a.m. tomorrow at Estes Park’s Stanley Hotel.
Three initiatives on Colorado’s 2010 ballot —Proposition 101 and Amendments 60 and 61 — are expected to stimulate discussion among the more than 100 governors attending, President David Johnson said. The full board packet is published below this story.
“Those three ballot initiatives are aimed at reducing the number of taxes, and essentially it will be reducing the income stream that the state has to pay its bills with,” Johnson said. “Included in these bills is the judicial branch. The bar is always very concerned about properly funding courts so they can address the needs of citizens.”
The association is staying abreast to this issue, Item No. 16 on the meeting’s agenda, because the “sense is there’s going to be a dramatic impact on the revenue stream the state receives, which will eventually impact the court’s ability to do their job.”
Discussion typically lengthens whenever anything political is addressed, Johnson said, specifically if the bar is asked to take a position. As an example, Johnson referenced Amendment 40. That was a proposed amendment to the constitution that would have imposed term limits on appellate court judges.
“The bar association opposed that,” he said. “It was not terribly controversial within the bar, but it was hot topic in the media.”
The amendment ultimately failed.
Also tomorrow, a representative from each of the local bar associations will be present to discuss basic information and housekeeping items. This is done quickly. Each topic is designated anywhere from five to 15 minutes discussion. The governors try their very best to stick to the schedule, but at the end of the day the allotted time is just a guideline, Johnson said.
“Because the agenda is so large we stick to [it],” Johnson said. “If there are some discussions, that’s fine, but a lot of time is spent making routine decisions.”
The day’s agenda includes an array of topics including the introductions of new members, the approval of the 2010-11 CBA budget, a president’s report and membership survey results. However, Johnson expects this meeting to basically act as a recap of last year. He assumes they’ll be interested in Item No. 8, the bar’s economic task force’s progress, and Item No. 13, Chuck Turner’s report on the status of the “Clear the Bench” campaign on the agenda.
“If we do have any sort of decision to make that needs to be given good discussion, we have an incredibly talented group of people,” Johnson said.
The next board of governors meeting will be Saturday, Nov. 6.

BOG 5.08.10

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LAW WEEK COLORADO
Colorado’s court system will begin Monday to transition thousands of users from a contracted public-records system operated by LexisNexis to one state employees operate.
“New user groups will be brought on each week until all users have been migrated over by June 30,” courts spokesman Rob McCallum said in an e-mail. “Each week we expect to bring on between 2,500-3,500 users.”
McCallum declined to identify which users would be moved first; there are approximately 14,000. Law Week Colorado is interested in talking with new government users about how the systems compare. E-mail us at newsroom@lawweekcolorado.com.
The courts’ computer move generated controversy because it necessitated getting legislative approval to hire 19 new technology employees during the current recession. The state’s General Assembly considered the idea over two years and assented recently. Government users pay nothing to access the public-access system; fees generated by private searches will flow into the state’s coffers.
The courts’ public access committee, which makes recommendations about records access, last met Sept. 18, 2008, McCallum said, also in the e-mail to Law Week.

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LAW WEEK COLORADO

The Colorado Judicial Branch is officially accepting applications for its 2011 fiscal year grants, totaling $750,000, from the Family Violence Justice Fund.

This fund assists programs that provide civil legal services to indigent Coloradans. It was established by the General Assembly in 1999 to help indigent victims of family violence obtain legal services for free. Grants are awarded based on a formula which considers factors including past participation in the program and organizations must be not-for-profit and must be currently serving the legal needs of indigent victims of family violence.

If selected, organizations must be prepared to provide full legal services such as assistance with divorce, child custody, child support and other related civil matters. Additional information regarding the fund and organizations that qualify can be found in section 14-4-107 of the Colorado Revised Statutes. Applications are available at http://www.courts.state.co.us/Administration/Unit.cfm/Unit/fvjf and must be submitted by 5 p.m. on Friday, May 28. Send to:

Jessica Zender
State Court Administrator’s Office
101 W. Colfax Ave., Suite 500
Denver, CO 80202

LAW WEEK COLORADO
Do you think Colorado’s e-filing system should remain with LexisNexis or be taken in-house by the Colorado Judicial Department?
That’s among the questions Law Week Colorado is asking attorneys its readers. Take our survey here. It’s seven questions and should take only 1-2 minutes to complete.
The question of who should operate the state’s e-filing system will be the subject of a special House Business Affairs & Labor Committee meeting next week.

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Douglas Walker

By Allie Winter, LAW WEEK COLORADO
Montezuma County District Judge Douglas Walker has declined to comment on defendant convicted murderer Ignacio Rael’s being jolted twice with a Taser gun to get him to Walker’s courtroom.
The tasing came after Walker ordered law enforcement to use “any force necessary” to get convicted murder Ignacio Rael to show up for his sentencing hearing, The Cortez Journal has reported. Walker, who received a lengthy prison term, did not attend his trial.
Real’s lawyer, public defender Tom Williamson, said his client was “tasered several times” when he told deputies that he didn’t want to attend the hearing.
Cortez Journal reporter Steve Grazier told Law Week Colorado that law enforcement “rolled Rael in” on a chair to which he was restrained. “His legs were restrained and I could see something around his chest,” Grazier said.
The Judicial Branch, through spokesman Rob McCallum, also had no comment on the tasing, but the branch said it placed “a high value on its relationship with law enforcement and places its trust in those officials to decide what course of action is necessary in any given situation.”

By Ali McNally, LAW WEEK COLORADO
Theresa Spahn, a former top executive in Colorado’s Judicial Branch, is the new director of the Judicial Selective Initiative at the University of Denver’s Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System, headed by former Colorado Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Love Kourlis.
“It’s a national initiative that is going to leverage what we consider a unique window of opportunity to really move the needle on judicial selection reform throughout the U.S.,” said the institute’s spokeswoman, Dallas Jamison. “[Kourlis] has known Theresa for some time and is a big fan of her work and her achievements.”
Jamison added that the institute will make a formal announcement on Dec. 10 that will detail the initiative’s official agenda and participants. Spahn and Kourlis were out of time at press time and could not be reached.
Spahn quietly joined the institute last month. She formerly headed the state Office of the Child’s Representative. Linda Weinerman has been acting as interim executive director.
The office is a state agency charged with representing in dependency and neglect (child abuse), delinquency, domestic relations, paternity, truancy and probate cases. The office contracts with more than 250 attorneys.
According OCR staff attorney Sarah Ehrlich, applications will be reviewed and interviewing will begin next week. Spahn’s former position should be filled by Dec. 1, she said.

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By Matt Masich, LAW WEEK COLORADO
DENVER — The cash-strapped Colorado Judicial Branch is again pitching a plan to bring its public access and e-file computer systems in-house. But the effort is controversial because it involves hiring more technical staff at the same time courts and probation jobs are on the chopping block.
Colorado’s legislature axed funding for the proposed projects from last year’s state budget after Republican lawmakers, vendors and some attorneys objected. This year, the judicial branch sweetened its proposal: If legislators allow it to take control of its public access and e-file systems, the branch will refund $1 million to the state’s dwindling general fund.
It’s not as if the judicial branch has a lot of money to throw around. It is looking at cutting 9 percent of its non-judge positions, including 90 probation officers. But the branch has an IT cash fund that brings in $2.9 million annually that it could use to pay for developing the e-file system.
The money comes from “cost recovery” fees — typically 75 cents or $1 — paid in large part by Colorado attorneys and their clients. The fees are tacked onto the charges imposed by outside vendors like LexisNexis, the current e-filing vendor, on public access and e-file users. [The public access system allows users, particularly background check companies, to view docket information that includes the outcome of cases; the e-file system lets attorneys remotely file complaints, motions and pleadings.]
The branch proposes giving back $1 million and spending the remaining $1.9 million to hire 19 full-time equivalent positions to develop and run the in-house systems next year. Once both systems are fully operational, 31 new positions would be needed, the legislators were told.
State Court Administrator Jerry Marroney promised legislators continuity of service and increased state revenue if the branch takes over the systems.
“We’re not changing anything except the person or the entity who is going to get that money [will change from] a vendor to the state,” Marroney said at a Joint Budget Committee hearing Monday.
Four of the five JBC members at the hearing supported a motion authorizing the branch to move forward with its plans to bring both systems in-house. But the full General Assembly will have to approve it during next year’s formal budget process
“It’s only as binding as us changing our minds,” Sen. Al White, R-Hayden, said to Marroney. “But after hearing this for a year, I’m pretty much with you, Jerry.”
The state’s in-house public access system has already been developed and is ready to be used, JBC analyst Carolyn Kampman said in a briefing last week. The courts want this system to be implemented by the time the next fiscal year begins in July.
The e-file system is to be developed with money from user fees and cost recovery fees.
The courts plan on the in-house e-file program to go on-line in 2013. When both the public access and e-file systems are up and running, the judicial branch estimates the fees will bring in a net $9 million a year. However, the branch has said it plans to cut user fees by about 1/3, meaning the net annual gain could be less.
Marroney has pushed for the creation of a $33 million rainy day fund for the judicial branch. Such a fund would eliminate the need job cuts that were necessary in 2002-2003 as well as the current fiscal crisis. At Monday’s hearing, Marroney floated the idea of using the annual $9 million the branch would get from in-house public access and e-file to build that fund.

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