Members Present
Justice Mary Muehlen Maring, Chair
Judge Steven McCullough
Judge Sonna Anderson
Judge David Reich
Dean Paul Lebel
Shawn Peterson
Jean Lindvig
Members Absent
Judge Denae Kautzman
Judge John Irby
Staff
Lee Ann Barnhardt
Louis Hentzen
Justice Maring called the meeting to order. A motion to approve the January 29, 2007, meeting minutes was made by Dean Paul Lebel and seconded by Shawn Peterson. Motion carried.
Old Business
I. Municipal Judge Training Subcommittee Recommendations
Judge DeNae Kautzmann was absent. Therefore, the subcommittee recommendations will be
held over for the next Commission meeting.
New Business
I. Set regular Education Commission meetings for 2007/2008
By consensus, the Commission members agreed that Fridays work best for scheduling
Commission meetings for the next year. After reviewing calendars, the Commission agreed to
meet quarterly on the following dates:
November 20, 2007 - 1:00 p.m. - Seven Seas, Mandan
February 15, 2008 - 10:00 a.m. - meeting space yet to be determined
May 16, 2008 - 10:00 a.m. - meeting space yet to be determined
September 12, 2008 - 1:00 p.m. - Doublewood Inn, Bismarck
II. Fall Conference Updates
Lee Ann Barnhardt updated the Commission on the progress of the upcoming conferences.
A. Juvenile Court Seminar - September 18-20, 2007 - Grand Forks, NDJudge Anderson requested that future Judicial Conferences include break out sessions on mental health with juvenile court hearings both with delinquency and deprivation cases.
Diversity theme - Seminar arrangements are finalized.
B. Municipal Judges Seminar - October 15, 2007 - Mandan, ND
Traffic and Courtroom 101 theme. Beginning next year the Municipal Judges Association will be recognizing municipal judges for years of service. Forms have been sent to the municipal judges and are in the process of being returned and put into a database for the service awards.
A formal swearing in of judges will be held at the conference for the "new" judges.
C. Judicial Conference - November 19-20, 2007 - Mandan, ND
The education sessions will start after lunch, including the session on judicial and opinion writing and editing. This session will be open to all law clerks, central legal staff, referees and judicial secretaries.
Justice Crothers will be offering an ethics session and Dean Lebel will be offering a law and literature course as well. Faculty is being sought for the second breakout session.
D. Court Support Seminar - November 19-20, 2007 - Bismarck, ND.
This seminar is mainly a repeat from the summer conference. However, a writing course will be included in the fall seminar. This seminar will be open to all court support staff, juvenile court officers, and court administrators.
Louie Hentzen reported there are four Regional Child Welfare Workshops that are offered for anyone to participate. These will be annually and will get more detailed in the future.
III. Digital Recording and Transcript Preparation Training.
Lee Ann Barnhardt informed the Commission of the need to provide training on digital recording
and quality transcripts and explained what she and the IT staff are currently offering. The training
was initially requested by the State Court Administrator, Sally Holewa. In addition to the hands-on technical training offered currently, it has been suggested to offer sessions on transcript
preparation. Jean Lindvig commented in support and indicated that she and other court recorders
would appreciate some feedback on their transcripts. Lee Ann Barnhardt will be adding more
training next summer at the Court Support Seminar directed at transcripts.
IV. Gifts for Faculty
Lee Ann Barnhardt brought up the possibility of providing a gift of appreciation to faculty who
teach at conferences for no compensation as a gesture of thanks. She said institutions such as the
National Judicial College provide a small token of appreciation for their faculty. Questions arose
as to what kind of gifts to provide. Lee Ann stated after every conference a letter of thanks is
sent to each faculty member. She said presenters are also allowed to use their presentation and
preparation time toward CLE or CJE credits when appropriate. Justice Maring expressed concern
about giving any type of gift, especially as this type of expenditure has been a recent issue with
state agencies. By consensus, the Commission agreed not to pursue purchasing gifts, but will
continue to send a letter of thanks to each presenter.
V. Approval of Alternate Training for Hankinson Municipal Judge
The Commission agreed to authorize Lee Ann to sign off on alternate training hours for
municipal court judges instead of sending the requests to the Commission subcommittee for
approval.
A motion to allow the Judicial Education and Special Projects Coordinator to give the final
approval on completion of alternate education hours for municipal judges was made by Judge
Sonna Anderson and seconded by Jean Lindvig. Motion carried.
VI. Reporting of CJE Hours: Question concerning new judges
By consensus, the Commission agreed that all new judges elected or appointed to the bench since
the last mandatory reporting period shall report CJE hours in June of 2008 and get on the same
reporting schedule as the rest of the judges. A motion to allow new judges to report 45 credits by
June 30, 2008 was made by Judge Steven McCullough and seconded by Judge Sonna Anderson.
Motion carried.
VII. Update: Judicial Conference Bylaw Amendment
Justice Maring gave an update on the bylaw amendment to allow the Judicial Education
Commission to plan for the education session at the judicial conference with the approval of the
Executive Committee of the Judicial Conference. The amendment was on the agenda for the June
Judicial Conference meeting; however, it was not voted on for lack of a quorum. The amendment
has been placed on the November Conference agenda.
VIII. Strategic Plan for Judicial Education
The Commission reviewed the Strategic Plan draft narrative and goals for final approval.
By consensus, the Commission agreed on the following changes:
A. Change the language on the headings to read: GOALS, OBJECTIVES, STRATEGY and TIMELINE.A motion to approve the Strategic Plan as revised and refer it to the Supreme Court for acceptance was made by Judge Reich and seconded by Dean Lebel. Motion carried.
B. Page 2 - Self-Study - Change the start date to Spring 2009.
#3 - Lee Ann stated we need to set guidelines for Benchbook procedures. Updates should follow legislative sessions with revisions approved at that time.
#4 - Faculty Development - Add outside consultant under the strategy heading.
C. Page 3 - #3 - Timeline - Change start to Fall 2008
#2 - Partnerships - Term in fall 2008
#5 - Partnerships - Utilize Supreme Court annual dinner with leaders of the State Bar Association to explore new ways to share resources.
D. Page 4 - Add a committees heading. Item 1. Consider having a member of the Education Commission join the Court Improvement subcommittee on education and training.
E. Page 7 - #1 - Timeline - Make for a later date.
F. Page 9 - #1 Travel Policy - Add name of subcommittee under strategy. Change start date to November 2007.
Respectively submitted,
Lana Zimmerman