January 10, 2003

The Commission conducted its first meeting at 2:30 p.m. on January 10, 2003, at the offices of the Colorado Bar Association. All members were able to be present in person or by telephone except for Judge Barney Iuppa and Judge Joann L. Vogt.

As the first order of business, the Commission elected David Butler to serve as Chair for the calendar year 2003. The Commission elected the following additional officers:

Judge JoAnn L. Vogt, Vice Chair
Darla Benford, Secretary
Jo Ann Viola Salazar, Assistant Secretary

The Commission then had a full discussion of a proposed draft of a Mission Statement, with particular reference to whether it should relate specifically to helping low income persons plus a general reference to other groups encountering barriers to access, or should simply refer to all such groups without singling out any particular one. The Commission decided to adopt a Mission Statement which was derived primarily from the Mission Statement of Texas Access to Justice Commission and does not single out low income persons. The Mission Statement is incorporated as part of the proposed Bylaws attached to these minutes.

The Commission members then commented on draft Bylaws previously provided to them and agreed that the Bylaws should be amended to substantially the form attached to these minutes. The attached Bylaws will be submitted for final review and approval at the next meeting of the Commission.

The Bylaws provide for appointment by the Colorado Governor, the President of the Colorado Senate, and the Speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives. It was proposed and agreed that the Chair would promptly communicate with these officials to determine whether they would like to appoint Members of the Commission, as the Bylaws would permit.

The next order of business was the establishment of Committees and consideration of the general nature of the functions which each committee would perform. The Commission agreed to establish the following Committees:

Pro Bono Committee
Courthouse Committee
Resource Development Committee
Communications/Technology Committee
Education Committee

The Chair asked each Member present to designate first and second choices of Committees, and this was done by all persons present in person. With approval of the other Members in attendance, the Chair undertook to assign Members to Committees and appoint Chairs. Each Committee would then augment its membership by adding persons who are not Members of the Commission.

The Commission then discussed putting information on the Colorado Bar website and linking that to the State Courts and Colorado Legal Services sites, with the intention of communicating general and educational information to persons interested in providing pro bono services or otherwise participating in improving access to justice. The Commission agreed to pursue this objective through its Communications/ Technology/ Committee.

As the final order of business, the Commission determined that its next meeting would be at 12:00 noon at the Colorado Bar Association offices on Monday, March 17, 2003, and that the Assistant Secretary would poll Members to determine what dates and times would be convenient for them in the future.

Subsequent to the meeting, Darla Benford informed the Chair that she did not feel comfortable serving as Secretary, with the result that the Commission will be asked at its next meeting to elect a successor.

____________________________________ David Butler, Chair

_____________________________________ Jo Ann Viola Salazar, Assistant Secretary