Courts - Digest of Bills

Digest of Bills - 2008

COURTS

S.B. 08-32 Breach of bond conditions - bond commissioner application - notice. Permits a bonding commissioner to apply to the court for a hearing on a breach or threatened breach of the conditions of a bond. Requires a bonding commissioner filing an application to notify the district attorney within 24 hours after filing the application. Directs the bonding commissioner to notify the bail bond agent of record when the warrant is issued.

APPROVED by Governor April 17, 2008
EFFECTIVE August 5, 2008
NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause. For further explanation concerning the effective date, see page vi of this digest.

S.B. 08-54 Judicial performance commissions - office - executive director - terms -duties - appropriation. Establishes the office of judicial performance evaluation ("office") within the judicial department. Directs the state commission on judicial performance ("state commission") to appoint an executive director. Specifies the duties of the office.

Specifies when the terms of members of the state commission and district commissions on judicial performance ("district commissions") end. Clarifies that an attorney member of the state commission or a district commission means a person admitted to practice law before Colorado courts. Requires a member of a commission to recuse himself or herself from an evaluation of the person who appointed the member.

Repeals and reenacts, with amendments, sections establishing the duties of the state and district commissions. Specifies criteria by which the state and district commissions are to evaluate justices and judges. Requires written evaluations of justices and judges to contain certain information. Provides that interim evaluations are to be conducted for each justice and judge at least once during the justice's or judge's full term of office.

Requires a member of the state commission or a district commission to disclose a professional or personal relationship with a justice or judge that may affect an unbiased evaluation of the justice or judge. Prohibits an attorney from seeking a recusal of a judge, a withdrawal of an attorney, or an exclusion of a witness solely because the attorney or witness is a member of the state commission or a district commission evaluating the judge. Prohibits a judge from recusing himself or herself from a case solely because an attorney, a party, or a witness is a member of the state commission or a district commission evaluating the judge.

Prohibits the disclosure of certain information gathered during an evaluation except under specified circumstances with the consent of the judge being evaluated.

Extends the repeal of the state and district commissions to June 30, 2019. Directs the state court administrator to provide to the state and district commissions case management data on each justice or judge being evaluated.

Appropriates to the judicial department $308,270 from the state commission on judicial performance cash fund for implementation of the act.

APPROVED by Governor May 27, 2008
EFFECTIVE July 1, 2008

H.B. 08-1020 Civil actions - settlement offers - costs. Clarifies that, if a plaintiff rejects a defendant's settlement offer and subsequently is the prevailing party in the action but recovers a final judgment that is less than the settlement offer, the plaintiff shall recover his or her actual costs that accrued prior to the time the defendant made the settlement offer.

APPROVED by Governor February 21, 2008
EFFECTIVE July 1, 2008

H.B. 08-1147 Witness protection - share curriculum among law enforcement. Requires the witness protection board to share with the peace officer standards and training board ("P.O.S.T. board") any witness protection curriculum developed by the witness protection board. Directs the P.O.S.T. board to provide the training curriculum to any law enforcement agency upon request and include it in any training it provides. Allows a law enforcement agency that develops its own witness protection training curriculum to provide it to the P.O.S.T. board who, in turn, shall make it available to any law enforcement agency in the state upon request.

APPROVED by Governor April 3, 2008
EFFECTIVE August 5, 2008
NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause. For further explanation concerning the effective date, see page vi of this digest.

H.B. 08-1174 Uniform interstate depositions and discovery act. Enacts the "Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act". Allows a party to submit a subpoena from another state for the deposition of a witness or for the discovery or inspection of documents or other tangible things to the clerk of the court in the county in which the deposition or discovery is to occur. Requires the Colorado court to issue a subpoena that incorporates the terms of the subpoena of the other state. Provides that the laws and rules of the state govern the service of a subpoena or a motion for protective orders and enforcement actions.

APPROVED by Governor March 26, 2008
EFFECTIVE August 5, 2008
NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause. For further explanation concerning the effective date, see page vi of this digest.

H.B. 08-1193 Judge as party to a case - recusal of judge upon motion. Allows any party to a case in a district court or county court to file a timely motion requesting that the judge who is appointed to preside over the case recuse himself or herself if a judge or former judge of the same district court or county court is a party in the case in his or her individual and private capacity. Requires a judge to recuse himself or herself if such a motion is filed under such circumstances. Requires the chief justice of the Colorado supreme court or his or her designee to appoint a presiding judge in such cases from outside the judicial district. Creates an exception for district court cases in which a water judge or referee is acting within his or her exclusive jurisdiction over water matters.

APPROVED by Governor April 14, 2008
EFFECTIVE August 5, 2008
NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause. For further explanation concerning the effective date, see page vi of this digest.

H.B. 08-1202 Uniform foreign-country money judgments recognition act. Replaces the 1977-enacted "Uniform Foreign Money-judgments Recognition Act" with the 2005-enacted "Uniform Foreign-country Money Judgments Recognition Act" ("act").

Updates and clarifies definitions. Reorganizes the act, and clarifies provisions relating to the scope of the act. Allocates the burden of proof with respect to establishing application of the act. Provides procedures for seeking recognition under the act. Clarifies and, to a limited extent, expands the grounds for non-recognition of foreign-country money judgments. Allocates the burden of proof with respect to the grounds for denying recognition. Establishes a 15-year statute of limitations for recognition of foreign-country money judgments.

APPROVED by Governor March 19, 2008
EFFECTIVE August 5, 2008
NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause. For further explanation concerning the effective date, see page vi of this digest.

H.B. 08-1253 Judicial department - information technology cash fund. Creates the judicial department ("department") information technology cash fund ("fund") consisting of certain fees and cost recoveries not otherwise required by law to be deposited in another fund. Requires the moneys in the fund to be appropriated to the department for any expenses related to the department's information technology needs.

Requires any unexpended and unencumbered moneys to remain in the fund at the end of a state fiscal year. Exempts the fund from the requirement that moneys in excess of the target reserve are required to be transferred to the general fund at the end of a state fiscal year.

APPROVED by Governor May 27, 2008
EFFECTIVE May 27, 2008