Judicial Education Commission
Members Present
Justice Mary Muehlen Maring, Chair
Judge Sonna Anderson
Judge David Reich
Judge DeNae Kautzmann
Judge Steven McCullough
Dean Kathryn Rand
Deborah Carlson, Juvenile Court Director
Jean Lindvig, Electronic Court Recorder
Guest
Judge M. Richard Geiger via phone
Member Absent
Judge John McClintock
Staff Present
Lee Ann Barnhardt, Director of Education
Louie Hentzen, Assistant State Court Administrator
Lana Zimmerman, scribe
Justice Maring called the meeting to order. A motion was made by Judge Anderson to
approve the December 4, 2009, minutes. The motion was seconded by Judge Kautzmann.
Motion carried.
Old Business
I. Lee Ann Barnhardt updated the Commission on the progress of the following
conferences:
A. The Clerk of Court Conference is scheduled for May 5-7, 2010, at the
Holiday Inn, Riverside in Minot. The clerk registration has dropped this
year as the Odyssey rollout for Administrative Unit 2 has required
additional training, which is being conducted at the same time as the
clerk's conference.
B. The Judicial Conference is scheduled June 17, 2010, at the Ramkota Hotel
in Bismarck. It will be held in conjunction with the SBAND Annual
Conference. The Judicial Branch Education Commission is sponsoring
the presentation by Professor Kirsten Dauphinais from UND Law School
on forensic eyewitness testimony. There will not be a separate education
track for judges at this Judicial Conference.
C. The Fall Judicial Conference is scheduled for November 22-23, 2010, at
the Radisson Hotel in Bismarck. A State Justice Institute grant was
approved for the development of curriculum and a presentation on sexual
offender cases during the first day of the conference. A session on
detention practices for juvenile offenders is scheduled for the second day.
New Business
I. The future of the Trial Court Benchbook was discussed. Judge Geiger, who
updates the benchbook, gave some history on its development. He said over time
the benchbook has become very thick. He noted that district judges may use the
benchbook in different ways and they may have a better sense as to how they
would prefer to have it developed and maintained. Judge Geiger has suggested
that due to the volume of the benchbook, the Commission may consider a re-drafting of the book. Judge Geiger is willing to continue editing the benchbook
and is open to suggestions for editing, content, methodology, and frequency of the
benchbook updates.
In response to a question by Justice Maring, Judge Geiger said he revises the
benchbook after each legislative session when he receives the newly compiled
laws issued the secretary of state. He then edits the benchbook and submits a draft
of each section to support staff in Bismarck who make the appropriate changes. It
is distributed every two years in November.
Justice Maring suggested forming a benchbook subcommittee to have to consider
changes to the editing and reformatting process. Judge Geiger suggested
including newer judges on the subcommittee.
Judge McCullough stated the benchbook is a very useful resource. He suggested a
change to a "mini" benchbook to be utilized on the bench, but to have the full
benchbook available as a resource. A sub-committee could determine what
material would be used on the bench and material for the resource book.
A motion was made by Judge McCullough to form a subcommittee to review
the Trial Court Benchbook and give the chair the discretion to appoint
members of the subcommittee. Motion seconded by Jean Lindvig, motion
carried.
Justice Maring will contact Judge Reich, who volunteered to form the sub-committee.
II. The 2011 Judicial Institute is scheduled for May 2011 at the UND Law School in
Grand Forks. Lee Ann Barnhardt surveyed the trial court judges about potential
education topics for the institute. The majority of responders asked for a
combination of plenary and concurrent sessions. The length of the institute will
be 2 ½ days to run Monday, Tuesday and a ½ day on Wednesday. The responders
also requested the Judicial Institute continue to be held at the UND Law School in
Grand Forks.
The most requested topics included Evidentiary Issues and Rulings from the
Bench, Courtroom Safety and Security, Working with Technology, Ethics, and
Procedural Fairness. The suggested overall theme of the Judicial Institute was the
Business of Judging.
Lee Ann Barnhardt will have a sample agenda with faculty at the June meeting.
III. Lee Ann Barnhardt proposed that all Continuing Judicial Education (CJE)
requests be decided by the members of the CJE subcommittee and that one
response be submitted by the subcommittee chair. The chair of the CJE
subcommittee is Judge Kautzmann.
IV. Justice Maring reported that Judge Romanick will be participating in the next
ASTAR Fellows Science for Judges program. Justice Maring and Judge Marquart
completed the program last year. A utilization plan to use the North Dakota
ASTAR judges for education and consultation will be submitted to the ASTAR
organizers by the end of April, as requested.
V. Updates were made to the Judicial Branch Education Strategic Plan. (Updated
plan attached)
VI. Lee Ann Barnhardt submitted a proposed education budget for 2011-2013.
Barnhardt explained that an additional $1,685 is requested to cover increased
travel expenses. Due to the cancellation of the Bench and Bar Seminar, the
allotted $5,000 for this conference was added back into the budget. Barnhardt
asked if $5,000 should be kept in the budget as a partnership and special funding
or lump the amount into another conference? She also asked if the base funding
for the Midwest Drug Court Conference could be placed in the education budget.
Judge McCullough stated the Drug Court Conference should be included within
the education budget because it involves education and training. This is a very
beneficial conference and, with the quality of this conference, significant out-of-state presenters will be available. It allows the drug court personnel to receive
training that would otherwise be prohibitively expensive.
The total request for the education budget for 2011-2013 is $145,530, which is an
increase of $11,535 or 8%. Justice Maring suggested the $5,000 for the Bench
and Bar Seminar be removed from the budget. By consensus, it was agreed to
eliminate the amount as a line item, which will reduce the budget request to a 4%
increase.
A motion was made by Judge Anderson to amend the proposed budget to
remove the Bench Bar funds of $5,000. Motion seconded by Judge
Kautzmann, motion carried.
A motion was made by Judge McCullough to approve the proposed budget
as amended. Motion was seconded by Judge Kautzmann, motion carried.
A motion to adjourn was made by Judge McCullough and seconded by
Judge Kau
Respectively Submitted,
Lana Zimmerman, scribe
ND Supreme Court