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J_LS_2021A 03/25/2021 08:11:20 AM Committee Summary

PUBLIC
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING
JOINT COMMITTEE COMMITTEE ON LEGAL SERVICES
Date 03/25/2021
Attendance
Buckner X
Cooke X
Gardner X
Herod *
Rodriguez X
Snyder X
Van Winkle E
Weissman X
Soper X
Lee X
Time 08:11:20 AM to 09:02:30 AM
Place Old State Library
This Meeting was called to order by Lee
This Report was prepared by Owen Colling
Hearing Items Action Taken
SB21-152 Referred to the Committee of the Whole
Publications contract for the Session Laws of Colorado and the Colorado Revised Statutes Committee Discussion Only
Retention of counsel to represent the Colorado General Assembly regarding an interrogatory to the Colorado Supreme Court concerning House Bill 21-1164 Counsel retained

SB21-152 - Referred to the Committee of the Whole


08:13:50 AM  
Jennifer Berman, Managing
Senior Attorney, Office of Legislative Legal Services, testified before
the Committee. Ms. Berman explained the Rule Review Bill to the Committee.



08:16:04 AM
Motion Refer Senate Bill 21-152 to the Committee of the Whole.
Moved Soper
Seconded
Buckner Yes
Cooke Yes
Gardner Yes
Herod Yes
Rodriguez Yes
Snyder Yes
Van Winkle Excused
Weissman Yes
Soper Yes
Lee Yes
Final YES: 9   NO: 0   EXC: 1   ABS:  0   FINAL ACTION:  PASS



Publications contract for the Session Laws of Colorado and the Colorado Revised Statutes - Committee Discussion Only


08:16:14 AM  

Jennifer Gilroy, Revisor of Statutes, Office of Legislative Legal Services, testified before the Committee. Ms. Gilroy explained that the publications contract for the Colorado Revised Statutes will be up for renewal in 2022 and the new contract must be awarded six months before the current contract is up. Ms. Gilroy explained the process for selecting a vendor for the publications contact, including the timeline and the request for proposal (RFP) process.

08:23:52 AM  

Senator Gardner and Ms. Gilroy discussed the language about choosing a vendor based on the lowest responsible bidder and also how other states handle publication of their statutes.

Representative Snyder and Ms. Gilroy discussed how many vendors responded to the RFP in the last publications contract cycle.

Representative Weissman and Ms. Gilroy discussed the drafting of the RFP and publications contract.



Retention of counsel to represent the Colorado General Assembly regarding an interrogatory to the Colorado Supreme Court concerning House Bill 21-1164 - Counsel retained


08:34:33 AM  

Sharon Eubanks, Director, Office of Legislative Legal Services, testified before the Committee. Ms. Eubanks presented the possibility of retaining counsel for the issue posed by the General Assembly in the interrogatory SJR 006 about HB21-1164 and disclosed the total amount of expenditures for legal fees the Office has spent this year.

08:37:21 AM  

Senator Cooke and Ms. Eubanks further discussed the total amount of expenditures on legal fees.

Representative Snyder and Ms. Eubanks discussed the interrogatory submitted to the Colorado Supreme Court last year and the legal fees regarding that.

Representative Soper and Ms. Eubanks discussed the history of paying for retention of counsel to represent the General Assembly's interest in an interrogatory sent to the Court.

Senator Gardner and Ms. Eubanks discussed interrogatories submitted in the past.

Representative Weissman and Ms. Eubanks discussed the different options the Committee has with regard to retaining vs. not retaining outside counsel and whether the Office could represent the General Assembly. Representative Weissman and Ms. Eubanks also discussed what kind of motion the Committee should make to retain counsel.

08:46:12 AM  
Representative Soper moved
to retain counsel to represent the General Assembly's interest in the interrogatory.



Senator Gardner moved to amend the motion to include retention of counsel
to also represent the minority's interest in the interrogatory.



Representative Weissman and Senator Lee clarified Senator Gardner's motion.



Senator Gardner clarified the procedure for voting on the motion to amend
and voting on the original motion.


08:52:34 AM
Motion I move that we amend the original Soper motion to include retention of counsel to represent the minority interest of the Colorado General Assembly with respect to the interrogatory.
Moved Gardner
Seconded
Buckner No
Cooke Yes
Gardner Yes
Herod No
Rodriguez No
Snyder No
Van Winkle Excused
Weissman No
Soper Yes
Lee No
YES: 3   NO: 6   EXC: 1   ABS:  0   FINAL ACTION:  FAIL
08:53:28 AM  
The vote on the motion
to amend the original motion failed.



Representative Weissman and Ms. Eubanks discussed clarifying the original
motion to be contingent on the Colorado Supreme Court accepting the interrogatory
and that the Committee should retain someone by name.



Representative Soper asked for the staff suggestion on who to retain for
counsel and Ms. Eubanks suggested retaining Mark Grueskin based on his
previous experience with representing the General Assembly.



Senator Cooke and Ms. Eubanks discussed which attorneys the Office looked
at possibly retaining for the interrogatory.



Senator Gardner and Representative Soper explained their no votes on the
motion. Senator Gardner requested that, in the future when considering
retention of counsel, the Office consider a larger group of attorneys when
making recommendations to the Committee.



Representative Soper withdrew his previous motion and made a new motion
to include the specifics discussed.


09:01:53 AM
Motion I move to retain counsel to represent the General Assembly, contingent on the Colorado Supreme Court accepting the interrogatory (on HB21-1164), and that the staff recommendation of attorney Mark Grueskin be the one who is retained for such matter.
Moved Soper
Seconded
Buckner Yes
Cooke No
Gardner No
Herod Yes
Rodriguez Yes
Snyder Yes
Van Winkle Excused
Weissman Yes
Soper No
Lee Yes
YES: 6   NO: 3   EXC: 1   ABS:  0   FINAL ACTION:  PASS


09:02:30 AM   The committee adjourned.






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