Department of Administrative Services
Reference: Appointment of Deputy Relief Judges
To: Mayor Gregory Mills and Members of City Council
Through: Marv Falconburg, Acting City Manager
Prepared By: Michelle Ramos, Court Administrator
Date Prepared: 3/11/2020
PURPOSE
To request City Council appoint current relief judges for the municipal court as deputy relief judges.
STRATEGIC FOCUS AREA
Strong Local Employment Opportunities
Safe, Active and Engaged Community
Strong Regional Relationships and Partnerships
BACKGROUND
Section 8.2 of the City Charter requires that Council appoint a presiding judge and such deputy judges as the Council deems necessary.
Currently the Municipal Court has one presiding judge and one deputy judge that have been appointed by council to cover the court dockets. Both the presiding judge and deputy judge have a contract that require a specific number of days to be worked in the courtroom. These judges also have other court commitments that can occasionally conflict with the court schedule. When a conflict in scheduling occurs the court relies on a relief judge for coverage. The following are three incidents where a relief judge would be utilized:
1. If a defendant requests the setting of a Jury Trial the matter is set on a non-court date in consideration of the court schedule, the City Prosecutor, the defendant or their attorney and the judge. The number of participants involved sometimes requires a setting on a date when neither judge would be available. The court would then contact one of the relief judges to find coverage for the case to ensure the defendant’s right to a trial are kept.
2. There are also those occasions when an appointed judge may have a family emergency or sudden illness that can require a relief judge to cover an already full court docket. If the court was to reschedule a full court docket this would create an inconvenience to the defendants, the victims and any attorneys scheduled to appear. It would also create a backlog in court dockets to accommodate the reset matters. This is an inefficient use of resources and reflects poor customer service.
3. On a rare occasion the judges may be required to recuse themselves due to familiarity with a defendant or a victim in a particular case. If a defendant should appear and is a current or former employee of the City of Brighton and they are familiar with the appointed judges they can request for the judges to recuse in order to ensure a fair trial. Similarly, if the judges were familiar with a victim in a case and the defendant felt this could prejudice the outcome of the trial they could request the judge to recuse. The Court would then be obligated to find a relief judge to hear the matter to ensure the rights of the defendant.
CRITERIA BY WHICH COUNCIL MUST CONSIDER THE ITEM
Currently the Court has three (3) relief judges that have been interviewed and placed on a list. To be consistent with the requirements of the City Charter, the relief judges will need to be appointed by City Council.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The rate of pay for the relief judges currently is established at $80.00 per hour. At the time of a previous appointment, this was the rate comparable to Deputy Judge Will Hardesty.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends a resolution to appoint relief judges to the Brighton Municipal Court according to Chapter 8.2.
OPTIONS FOR COUNCIL CONSIDERATION
1) Approve a resolution and appoint current relief judges as Deputy Relief Judges
2) Do not approve the resolution to appoint Relief Judges.
ATTACHMENTS
Colorado Bar Association membership in good standing for each Relief Judge.