Executive Committee
Present:
Absent:
Staff:
The Executive Committee of the Judicial Conference met on November 1, 2006. Chair Maring
called the meeting to order at 8:19 a.m. Justice Kapsner made a motion to approve the minutes of the June 15, 2006 meeting, seconded
by Judge Hagerty. The motion carried and the minutes were approved. Judge Bruce Haskell has indicated that he would like to resign from the Pattern Jury Instruction
Commission. His term expires 6/30/08. Upon accepting his resignation, the Executive Committee
would need to make an appointment to fulfill the remainder of this term. There are two members of the Judicial Education Committee whose terms are set to expire in
January 1, 2007 The appointments to these two committees are to be made by the Chair of the Judicial Conference,
in consultation with the members of the Executive Committee. It was the consensus of the committee to offer the appointment to the Pattern Jury Instruction
Commission to Judge Gary Lee, first, and to Judge Laurie Fontaine if Judge Lee was unable or
unwilling to serve. Jean Lindvik and Judge Steven McCullough are both eligible for reappointment to the Judicial
Education Commission, and it was the consensus of the committee to offer reappointments to them. Chair Maring further advised that she had received a letter from Judge Holte indicating his desire
to resign from the Jury Standards Committee. Since this committee is now a Supreme Court
committee, she has forwarded the letter to the Chief Justice. The committee then turned to discussion of the Judicial Conference, scheduled to take place on June
14, 2007. Lee Ann Barnhardt, Judicial Education Coordinator, prefaced the discussion by pointing
out that the Judicial Conference comes just three weeks after the Judicial Institute. She is concerned
that we may be offering too many educational sessions in a row, and also concerned about the
education budget. Both Lee Ann Barnhardt and Bill Neumann, executive director of the State Bar Association, are
concerned about the lack of participation from judges and attorneys during the annual state bar
convention. They believe it would benefit both groups to pool resources and, rather than offer
separate tracks for judges and attorneys, offer all sessions as joint judge/attorney sessions. To ensure
that the sessions offered would appeal to the judiciary, Mr. Neumann has offered to include Ms.
Barnhardt in the SBAND Continuing Legal Education Planning Committee. Ms. Barnhardt asked for committee consideration of the proposal to consolidate education efforts
with SBAND and to provide joint CLE/CJE sessions rather than having our own track of CJE
classes. The committee approved this plan of action by consensus. The committee then entertained discussion regarding the Judicial Conference scheduled for
November 20-21, 2006. Chair Maring noted that Chair-Elect Herman will serve as chair of the Judicial Conference for the
opening day on November 20, 2006, as she will be unavailable that day. Judge Herman asked if there was room on the November agenda to discuss Initiated Measure 3, in
the event that the voters approve passage of it on November 7, 2006. It was decided that if the
measure passes, the conference agenda would be adjusted, either by starting earlier on the 20th or
extending the meeting on the 21st. Ms. Barnhardt advised that Jim Ganje, staff attorney to the Juvenile Policy Board, has requested,
time on the November agenda for the chair of the Board, Judge Debbie Kleven, to present the
Board's recommended legislative changes to the Juvenile Court Act. It was agreed that the agenda
will be adjusted to allow her twenty minutes to speak, beginning at Noon on Tuesday, November 21,
2006. In other business, Chair Maring notified the committee that the District Judges Association will be
sponsoring a wine and cheese reception on Monday evening after the Law and Literature session.
There are 21 people registered for the Law and Literature session. Judge Herman made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Judge Hagerty. The
motion carried and the meeting was adjourned at 8:51 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Sally A. Holewa
November 1, 2006
Administrative Office of the Supreme Court
Bismarck, ND
Justice Mary Muehlen Maring, Chair
Justice Carol Ronning Kapsner
Judge Gail Hagerty
Judge Douglas Herman appeared via telephone
Judge John T. Paulson
Judge Bruce Romanick
Sally Holewa
Lee Ann Barnhardt
Renee Barnaby
Chair Maring advised the committee of the need to make appointments to two committees.
Executive Secretary to the Judicial Conference