Members Present Justice Mary Muehlen Maring, Chair Cory Pedersen, Juvenile Court Director Judge Steven McCullough, via telephone Judge Sonna Anderson Judge DeNae Kautzmann
Members Absent Kathryn Rand, Dean UND Law School Judge John McClintock Judge David Reich Jean Lindvig, Electronic Court Recorder
Staff Present Lee Ann Barnhardt, Director of Education and Communication Louie Hentzen, Asst. State Court Administrator Lana Zimmerman, scribe
Justice Maring called the meeting to order. A motion was made by Judge McCullough to
approve the March 29, 2012, minutes. The motion was seconded by Judge Anderson,
motion carried.
Old Business
I. Conference Updates - Ms. Barnhardt updated the Commission on the progress of the following
conferences:
A. The June Judicial Conference is scheduled June 14, 2012, at the Alerus Center in Grand
Forks. The conference topics are Beyond Notice: Engaging Foster Parents and Care givers in
Child Welfare Proceedings with Timothy Travis of Travis Consulting, and Revisions to the Code
of Judicial Conduct with Jim Ganje, Staff Attorney.
B. The Court Recorders Seminar is scheduled June 14, 2012, at the Radisson Hotel in Bismarck.
Margie Wakeman will be presenting on transcripts and editing. The American Association of
Electronic Reporters and Transcribers certification test study guide will be distributed at the
seminar.
C. The 4th Amendment Seminar is scheduled June 29, 2012, at the Seven Seas Hotel in Mandan. Invitations were sent to District Court Judges, Supreme Court Justices, Law Clerks, Tribal
Judges and Referees. Tom Clancy of the University of Mississippi Law School is the primary
faculty. Topics covered are digital evidence, use of technology, and 4th amendment issues related
to digital evidence. All related materials for this conference will be available online, as well as
hard copy.
D. The Children’s Justice Symposium is scheduled July 24-26, 2012, at the Ramkota Hotel in
Bismarck. The registration link has been distributed. Topics for this symposium include:
educational stability, engaging families and non-custodial fathers, investigating child abuse,
trauma, ICWA, rural issues and other child welfare related issues. The symposium is funded by
the Court Improvement Grand and is co-sponsored by the Children and Family Services
Department of the Department of Human Services.
E. The Opinion Writing and Editing Seminar is scheduled August 24-26, 2012, at the Radisson
Hotel in Bismarck. Attendance is limited to District Court Judges, Supreme Court Justices,
Referees, Staff Attorneys and Law Clerks. Ron Hofer will be presenting.
F. The Juvenile Court Conference is scheduled September 5-7, 2012, at the Holiday Inn in
Minot. Topics for this conference include: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Restorative Justice, and
Sex Trafficking.
II. The Fall 2012 Judicial Conference is scheduled November 19-20, 2012, in Bismarck. Patti
Alleva is a Professor at the UND School of Law and will be providing the Law and Literature
portion of the conference. Proposed education topics include: The National Judicial College has
developed a curriculum on human trafficking. William Brunson and Terry Coonan are willing to
conduct a 2 hour session on sex traffickingand will conduct a thorough review to include the
state statutes. The Department of Corrections will conduct a session on the new treatment plansimplemented in the DOCR. Dr. Angela Cavett will be conducting a session on interviewing
children in chambers, as well as open court.
III. The May 2013 Judicial Institute is scheduled to be held at the UND School of Law. Ms.
Barnhardt has surveyed the district court judges and the results determine the three main topics
they would like to be presented on are Judicial Code of Conduct, Self Represented Litigants, and
Odyssey training. Ms. Barnhardt has connected with Gary Merchant on Role of Courts and
Technology, Judge Ash on Self Represented Litigants, and the National Center for Elder Abuse
and the law.
IV. The on-line Odyssey training launch for the clerks offices is June 14, 2012. The six live
on-line courses and a number of web-based tutorials will be provided through December and will
occur every third Thursday and Friday of each month. These courses will also be linked to the
Admin site under education.
New Business
I. Ms. Barnhardt distributed the Faculty Development and Clerk of Court Conference
evaluations. Both conferences were very well received.
II. Please refer to the 2013-2015 proposed education budget. It was determined to eliminate the
Support Staff Conference due to poor attendance. The monies have been shifted to the Judicial
Writing seminar. After a brief discussion of the budget, a motion was made by Judge
Kautzmann to approve the 2013-2015 education budget. The motion was seconded by
Cory Pedersen, motion carried.
The next meeting is scheduled August 31, 2012 at 8:30am in Bismarck. Location to be
determined.