 Bill Owens |
Governor's Task Force on
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Task Force Co-Chairs and Governor's CounselRebecca A. Koppes Conway, Esq. - Co-Chair |
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Minutes |
Governor's Task Force on Civil Justice ReformMeeting of Committee Chairs A meeting of the Committee Chairs of the Governor's Task Force on Civil Justice Reform was held on Thursday, March 9, 2000, at the offices of the Governor' Legal Counsel in the State Capitol Building. Present were Task Force co-chairs Rebecca Koppes Conway, Esq. and Timothy M. Tymkovich, Esq. and the following committee chairs: X For the Administrative Law Committee, Thomas L. Kanan, Esq.; The Task Force co-chairs reported that a meeting of the whole membership of the Governor's Task Force on Civil Justice Reform will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 23, 2000, in the Old Supreme Court Chambers, located in the State Capitol Building, 201 East Broadway, Denver, Colorado. The agenda for that meeting will include the following: 1. An overview of the Task Force process and status from the Task Force co-chairs. 2. An oral report from each committee of the status of its deliberations to date and the 3. A discussion period, including an opportunity to comment on any committee's Each committee is requested to have the preliminary draft of its portion of the Task Force Report posted on the Task Force's website not later than Wednesday, March 13, 2000, and to provide one hard copy of its report to the office of the reporter, Anthony van Westrum, 621 Seventeenth Street, Suite 1515, Denver, Colorado 80293-1501 not later than Tuesday, March 21, 2000. It is hoped that the discussion of the various reports at the meeting can be centered on written comments received in advance of the meeting; it is not intended that the discussion descend to redrafting-by-committee. Following the conclusion of the meeting, members will be encouraged to use the Task Force website, or direct communication with the respective committee chairs, to make further comments on the draft reports, with a view toward having all such comments made by Friday, April 7, 2000. Committee chairs will be expected to have the reports revised accordingly and provided to the Task Force co-chairs and the reporter not later than Friday, April 14, 2000, so that the process of consolidating the committee reports into the Task Force Report can commence, with a view toward the Governor's release of the Task Force Report, in preliminary form, for public comment on Law Day, May 1, 2000. That schedule may suggest that the chairs hold at least one further meeting of their respective committees in the week of April 10, 2000, for the purpose of considering the comments and finalizing their reports. The committees are requested to make their reports available to the Task Force co-chairs and the reporter in both hard copy and either WordPerfect or Word digital format. It was noted by several of the committee chairs that their portions of the Task Force Report contain lengthy appendices and other supporting documentation, which could make reproduction and distribution of the report difficult and costly. It was suggested that this kind of problem be solved with references to readily available sources (such as statutes) when possible, including references in the text of the reports and by way of bibliographies. But the committees should be prepared to provide at least one copy of all referenced material for inclusion in an archival form of the Report. Several chairs noted that they have received requests for copies of draft reports. It was noted that the Task Force is subject to the Open Meetings Law (§ 24-6-401 et seq., CRS), but distribution of preliminary drafts beyond the membership is not encouraged, inasmuch as it can lead to confusion when a final version of the Task Force Report is subsequently released for public comment. Notwithstanding that caution, committees were encouraged to make the drafts available to those individuals who may have lent their expertise to the committees in their deliberations and drafting, in order that appropriate input from those individuals can be obtained for the good of the final product. The co-chairs emphasized the need to legend all drafts to the effect that they are "for consideration only," with the understanding that no "official" position will be taken by the Task Force until issue of its final report and acceptance of that report by the Governor. Each committee chair was requested to provide to the Task Force co-chairs the names, addresses, and other pertinent information regarding the non-member individuals who may have lent support to that committee. Respectfully submitted, Comments or corrections to: |