Judicial Education Commission
Minutes
9:00 a.m.
December 12, 2008
Justice Maring called the meeting to order. A motion was made by Judge Anderson to approve the August 29, 2008, minutes with the proposed grammatical changes. The motion was seconded by Jean Lindvig. Motion carried.
Old Business
I. Lee Ann Barnhardt updated the Commission on the progress of the following conferences:
A. Bridges out of Poverty scheduled February 18-19, 2009, in Bismarck.
B. ICWA Conference scheduled March 3-5, 200, in Bismarck.
C. Juvenile Court Officers Conference scheduled April 21-23, 2009, in Fargo.
D. Clerk of Court Conference scheduled May 6-8, 2009, in Mandan.
E. Judicial Institute scheduled May 18-21, 2009, in Grand Forks.
II. Lee Ann Barnhardt has received the Audience Response System from Meridia which was approved by the Commission at the August 29, 2008, meeting. The system has been tested and seems to be working well. Lee Ann plans on using the system at the Juvenile Court Conference and the Clerks of Court Conference as initial test runs.
III. Proposed guidelines for the approval of ethics credits were discussed. It was moved by Judge Irby and seconded by Judge Anderson to include these guidelines in the Commission's continuing education guidelines. Motion carried.
IV. The Judicial Branch Education Commission manual was distributed, which includes AR 36, Policies, Strategic Plan, Budget, forms, and a resource list for self-study. Justice Maring thanked Lana and Lee Ann for distributing the manual to the Commission.
New Business
I. Lee Ann Barnhardt updated the Commission on the orientation process for Juvenile Court Officers and new District Court Judges.
The juvenile court officer sub-committee has met and is working on the orientation material. Kim Dockter will give an update at the next meeting on March 20, 2009.
The district court judges sub-committee has met twice and established a time line. Initial discussions include a mentoring program, reference manual, and spousal/family involvement during orientation. Lee Ann Barnhardt asked that the UND School of Law also get involved with the orientation. Dean Paul Lebel and Lee Ann will meet at a later date and discuss these options.
II. The Commission's Strategic Plan was discussed and updates were given by Lee Ann Barnhardt. Changes to the time lines and a status update will be added to the plan and distributed to the members.
III. Training for magistrates was discussed. Judge Anderson suggested offering a three-hour training via IVN for all magistrates. Lee Ann Barnhardt asked for suggested faculty, preferably a district court judge. Judge Reich suggested asking a judge who participated in Faculty Development to serve as faculty. The training will be planned for Fall 2009.
IV. Justice Maring thanked Judge Irby and Shawn Peterson for their commitment to the Judicial Branch Education Commission as outgoing members. Their terms expire January 1, 2009.
The new members of the Commission will be Judge John McClintock and Deb Carlson, Director of Juvenile Court Services. Their three-year terms begin January 1, 2009.
V. Other Business
There is no other business to report.
Motion to adjourn by Judge Irby, seconded by Shawn Peterson. Motion carried.
The next meeting of the Judicial Branch Education Commission is scheduled for March 20, 2009, at 9:00 a.m. in the Supreme Court Front Conference Room.
Respectively submitted,
Lana Zimmerman
ND Supreme Court