Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

COMMITTEE ON JOINT JUDICIARY

Date:02/07/2006
ATTENDANCE
Time:09:58 AM to 10:37 AM
Bacon
Boyd
Place:HCR 0112
Carroll M.
Clapp
This Meeting was called to order by
Decker
Senator Grossman
Dyer
Gardner
This Report was prepared by
Gordon
Jessika Shipley
Hefley
Jahn
Judd
McGihon
Mitchell
Shaffer
Traylor
Witwer
Carroll T.
Grossman
X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call
Bills Addressed: Action Taken:
Presentation by the Department of Law
Office of the Child's Representative		-
-


09:58 AM

John Suthers, Colorado Attorney General, began the briefing by listing the two major issues facing the Department of Law, turnover due to attorney compensation gaps and major litigation. He provided a handout to the committee which details the attorney compensation issues (Attachment A). Attachment A also includes a strategy for handling the turnover problem within the department. The Attorney General responded to questions from the committee regarding a comparison between salaries in the Department of Law and those in the Office of the State Public Defender.


10:08 AM

Mr. Suthers then moved onto major litigation issues being dealt with by the department. Those are the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Natural Resources Damages suit and the Defense of the Colorado River Compact. He provided a synopsis of each of these cases to the committee (Attachment B). He listed some of the facts of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal case and explained that it may be going to litigation very soon. The Attorney General responded to questions from the committee about how the department allocates budget resources in cases that are litigated.





10:14 AM

Mr. Suthers turned to the issue of interstate water issues on the Colorado River. He explained the facts of the case and provided some background issues that could force the case to go into court for resolution. He estimated 20-30 years for completion of the case. Beth McAnn, Deputy Attorney General, responded to questions from the committee about litigation involving religious accommodation. The committee asked Mr. Suthers to provide a list of major cases currently being litigated by the department. He promised to do so and directed the committee to the department's annual report for a partial summary (Attachment C).


10:23 AM

Theresa Spahn, Director of the Office of the Child's Representative (OCR), provided a packet of information to the committee (Attachments D and E). Ms. Spahn explained the function of the OCR using anecdotal evidence. She also mentioned that the OCR is a new agency and discussed the accomplishments made since its inception five years ago. She focused primarily on the change in the compensation model, which allows her attorneys to spend an adequate amount of time dealing with their cases.


10:32 AM

Ms. Spahn mentioned that the OCR is asking the Joint Budget Committee for a modest hourly pay increase this year. Ms. Spahn responded to questions from the committee regarding the PERA limit on retired state attorneys working for the OCR.


10:37 AM

Representative T. Carroll adjourned the committee.