Board of Judicial Policy and Administration
Minutes
June 19-20, 2003
The Board of Judicial Policy and Administration met in Casper on June 19th and 20th, 2003. Chief Justice William Hill, Justice Larry Lehman, Justice Bart Voigt, Judge Ed Grant, Judge Keith Kautz, Judge Jim Burke, Judge Rob Denhardt, Judge Mike Huber and Judge Wade Waldrip attended. Judge John Perry, Judge Terry Tharp, Holly Hansen, Joann Stockdale and Ronda Munger also attended. Throughout the two-day meeting, the following individuals attended at some point: Judge Jeff Donnell, Dean Jessup, Rodger McDaniel, Donna Sheean, Paul Yatsic and Matt Fermelia.
1. Approval of Minutes
Judge Waldrip moved and Judge Denhardt seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the May 19, 2003, Board conference call. Motion carried unanimously.
2. Committee Reports
A. Education Committee -- Justice Voigt and Judge Burke reported on
the activities of the Education Committee.
On Tuesday, September 9, 2003, the Education Committee has arranged for
Dean Jerry Parkinson to speak for an hour on Search Warrant Affidavits. Professor Ted Lauer will also speak for
about an hour on 404(b) evidence. The
Committee attempted to schedule CJE related specifically to Wyoming Law.
B. Drug Court Committee -- Judge Denhardt reported on the activities
of the Drug Court Committee. The
majority of the work is outlined under #4 New Business, Approval of Drug Court
Rules, but as a summary, the committee worked on a set of operational rules for
the drug courts and set forth Rules and Comments for the Board's approval.
C. Judicial Compensation Committee -- The Board discussed the merits
of having a Judicial Compensation Committee and the need to take immediate
action if any legislation is going to be attempted in the 2004 Session of the
Wyoming Legislature. Justice Hill will
discuss the idea with the Governor and report back to the Board.
3. Old
Business
A. Natrona Update. Chief Justice Hill reported that the
Nominating Commission provided the names of three individuals for the Seventh
Judicial District Judge position to the Governor at noon on June 19, 2003. The Governor has thirty days from that date
to name the new district judge.
4. New
Business
A. Family Courts -- Rodger McDaniel, Director
Department Family Services, appeared before the Board to provide information
regarding Family Treatment Courts.
Family treatment courts are similar to drug courts, except that the
focus of family treatment courts is the family rather than the individual. Mr. McDaniel sent letters to the district
judges and was encouraged at the response.
He believes that there will be as many as six family treatment courts by
next spring. Mr. McDaniel does not
think he will need any statutory changes or appropriations of money from the
Legislature. The Board expressed some
concerns about changing the traditional role of judges and wondered if this
program could be administered through DFS.
Mr. McDaniel explained that he believes the program is successful when
using the judge to hold all parties accountable.
B. Approval of Drug Court Rules. District Judge Jeff Donnell and Dean Jessup
appeared before the Board to discuss the proposed rules and procedures for drug
courts. The committee looked at several
issues within the drug court system -- ethical issues, procedural issues,
employment issues, insurance issues and structural issues. The first set of proposed changes would be
to the Wyoming Code of Judicial Conduct.
The individual Cannons are not changed at all, but the Committee is
proposing changes to the commentaries that are specific to drug court
judges. The proposed rule changes would
appear in the Wyoming Court Rules and would only apply to those courts with
drug courts. The proposed changes are
an attempt by the drug court committee to create some degree of procedural,
structural and ethical unity within the existing drug courts. Judge Huber moved that the Board approve the
proposed changes to the Wyoming Code of Judicial Conduct. Judge Denhardt seconded the motion. Discussion was had regarding the merits of
adopting the changes to the Cannons and the Rules at the same time. The motion failed with Justice Lehman, Judge
Grant, Judge Waldrip, Justice Voigt and Judge Kautz voting "No." Judge Huber moved that the Board adopt Rule
1.01, Scope and Definitions, of the proposed Drug Court Rules. Judge Denhardt seconded the motion. Continued discussion was had on the merits
of adopting these changes in a piecemeal fashion. The motion failed with Justice Hill, Justice Voigt, Justice
Lehman, Judge Grant, Judge Burke, Judge Waldrip, and Judge Kautz voting
"No." Several Board members
stated that their "no" vote did not reflect opposition to the rules,
but rather their desire to adopt a single package.
B1. The Board was advised that its December 18,
2003 Order titled, "Order Adopting Amendments to the Wyoming Rules of
Civil Procedure" was not properly copied to the district court clerks and
therefore the increase in the twelve person jury fee has not been implemented. Judge Grant moved that the effective date of
the Order be amended to July 1, 2003.
Justice Lehman seconded the motion.
The motion carried unanimously.
Judge Waldrip moved that the Board adopt a policy that all orders signed
on behalf of the Board be sent to the district judges, circuit judges, district
clerks, circuit clerks and the state bar office. Justice Voigt seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.
C. Credit Card Approval for Pilot Courts. Joann Stockdale, Court Services Officer,
appeared before the Board to discuss the acceptance of credit cards in the
courts. Ms. Stockdale reported that at
the present time there is 6 million dollars in outstanding fines in the Wyoming
Circuit Court system. She requested the
Board establish two pilot courts to accept credit cards for all fines and fees
owing to the court to see if the citizens of Wyoming are willing to pay the
convenience fee of $5.00 per transaction to use the credit card service. Justice Lehman moved approval for the pilot
project for the use of credit cards for all purposes. Judge Grant seconded the motion.
The motion carried unanimously.
After the pilot courts are up and running for ninety-days, Ms. Stockdale
is to make a report to the Board.
D. Interest Bearing Accounts. Holly Hansen summarized Don Merriam's letter
to the Board regarding interest-bearing accounts. Mr. Merriam requested that the Board ask the Legislature to
revise W.S. § 5-5-157, which requires that fines, costs or forfeitures be
deposited in interest-bearing accounts.
There are some instances where it is not in the best interest of the
courts to deposit these monies into interest-bearing accounts. Justice Lehman moved that Chief Justice
Hill, Holly Hansen and Don Merriam accomplish all the steps necessary to
effectuate this change during the next Legislative session. Judge Denhardt seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.
E. Secondary Users and Criminal Justice
Information Exchange Agreement and Use of Ex-Parte Criminal Record Information
in Sentencing. Judge Fred Dollison, by
his letter of February 27, 2003, advised the Board of his concerns regarding
the judicial use of the NCIC database searches on defendants appearing in
court. The Board discussed the matter
and took no action.
F. Clarification of Issues Regarding Full-Time
Magistrates. There were three issues
discussed regarding full-time magistrates.
The first issue concerns the section of the Code of Judicial Conduct
titled Application of the Code of Judicial Conduct. Specifically, Section D2 creates concerns regarding the practice
of law by full-time magistrates. Judge
Dollison raised the second issue. He
would like to know if full-time magistrates can charge for conducting
weddings. And third, the full-time
magistrates would like the Board to describe the process by which they receive
pay raises. Holly Hansen is to discuss
these issues with the full-time magistrates and then report back to the Board.
G. Withdrawal of Circuit Courts from Conference
of Special Court Judges -- Judge Denhardt reported to the Board the discussion
that occurred in Laramie at the last Conference of Special Court Judges
regarding the dissolving of the conference.
A majority of the circuit judges would like to have their own conference
meetings rather than meet in conjunction with the municipal court judges. Chief Justice Hill and Holly Hansen will
contact the municipal court judges and discuss the matter.
H. Wyoming Rules Criminal Procedure 39 - Judge
Denhardt proposed an amendment to WRCP 39 that would allow judges to initiate
an action by an Order to Show Cause in the revocation of probation. The Board took no action on this issue.
I. Grant Approval, Technology Taskforce --
Holly Hansen reported to the board that the grant application had not been
received and therefore will not require an action by the Board. She further advised that the JTTF would like
to invite Lindy Schmidt, Dave Clark and Steve Gilmore to be members of the
Committee. The Board had no objections.
J. Request for Extension of Time for CJE. Justice Michael Golden and Judge Keith Kautz
requested extensions of time to complete their CJE requirements. Judge Waldrip moved the Board approve the
requests, and Judge Denhardt seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.
K. Issues of Court Security. Judge Sam Soule', via email dated June 5,
2003, advised the Board of security issues that need to be addressed in the
courts. Holly Hansen discussed a
Homeland Security Grant that the Supreme Court could apply for that would
provide for security equipment and training.
The grant does not provide for personnel. In requesting the grant, it is necessary to demonstrate some
connection to first responders. The
Board requested that Holly Hansen send an email to all judges getting
information on security matters in each court.
Additionally, Ms. Hansen was requested to contact Joe Moore and Larry
Majeris and request that they include the Judicial Branch in the security
assessment currently being conducted by the State. The National Center for State Courts was suggested as a resource
on this issue. Chief Justice Hill
appointed Judge Perry, Justice Kite and Judge Kautz as a Court Security
Subcommittee.
Holly Hansen provided an
update on the status of the following bills from the 2003 Legislative session:
A. HB-299 – Retired Judges’ Election.
This bill allows judges to withdraw from the new judicial retirement
system, so long as it is prior to receipt of any funds. It also allows circuit judges to join the
new system. The Board expressed some
concern about the section of the statute that provides for an actuarial
assessment if the retiree does not meet the full-retirement requirements. Justice Lehman and the legislative
subcommittee will bring a proposal to the Board in an attempt to correct that
section.
B. Title 14 Review. Enrolled act 79 requires the appointment of a member of the Court
Improvement Project to work on the review of Title 14. Judge Nena James was appointed to this
committee. Holly Hansen will forward
the scheduled meetings of the Joint Judiciary Meetings to the Board.
C. HB – 203 Retired Judges Compensation. HB 203 did not pass, but was an attempt to
recalculate how a retired judge is paid.
D. SF101 – Forcible Entry and Detainer. SF101 did not pass, but was an attempt to
put forcible entry and detainer cases in small claims court.
E. SJR – 0009 – Judicial Vacancies. SJR009 did not pass, but was an attempt to
dismantle the Judicial Nominating Commission.
F. Joint Judiciary Interim Work. Holly Hansen attended the Joint Judiciary
Meeting in Sheridan on June 19, 2003.
The Committee is working on three bills for the upcoming session: 1) is
a bill which removes the words Justice of the Peace out of the statutes since
there are no longer any justices of the peace; 2) is a bill involving dormant
judgments; 3) is a bill that changes the required length of time that court
tape recordings have to be stored. The
Joint Judiciary is scheduled to meet again in September.
6. Other Matters
A. Future Meetings Schedule
The September 9, 2003 Conference call was
cancelled due to a conflict with the Judicial Council and State Bar meeting.
B. New Board Members
Chief Justice Hill presented
plaques to Justice Larry Lehman, Judge Keith Kautz and Judge Rob Denhardt in
recognition of their service on the Board.
Justice Marilyn Kite, Judge John Perry and Judge Terry Tharp will be the
new members of the Board.
August 12, 2003 Conference Call, Noon
October 2, 2003 Meeting at Saratoga
November 11, 2003 Conference
Call, Noon (Conflict with Veterans’ Day Holiday)
December 4 & 5, 2003 Meeting at Law Enforcement Academy