HomeMy WebLinkAbout800811.tiff l ,
RESOLUTION
RE: DEPARTMENT HEADS AND EMPLOYEES OBTAINING APPROVAL FROM THE
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRIOR TO LOBBYING.
WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners of Weld County,
Colorado, pursuant to Colorado statute and the Weld County Home
Rule Charter, is vested with the authority of administering the
affairs of Weld County, Colorado, and
WHEREAS, it has been brought to the Board' s attention that
several requests have been made from department heads and employ-
ees of Weld County to lobby at the legislature, and
WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners is responsible
for upholding policies adopted for Weld County, and
WHEREAS, due to its responsiblity, the Board of County
Commissioners has determined that it would be advisable and in
the best interest of Weld County to request all department heads
and employees of Weld County desirous of lobbying at the State
Legislature to obtain permission from the Board of County Com-
missioners for said lobbying.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of County Com-
missioners of Weld County, Colorado, that all department heads
and employees of Weld County are requested to obtain the Board' s
approval prior to lobbying at the State Legislature.
The above and foregoing Resolution was , on motion duly made
and seconded, adopted by the following vote on the 9th day of
January, A.D. , 1978 .
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
WELD
�COUNTY, COLORADO‘entlailATTEST: f '� \�`�L 'i /..(/CI r,%---< /ii
Weld County Clerk and Recorder
and\Clerk to the B rd t-', � (�
1 1�=r.r,.O,71-CK h
Ca-
By,J %:�-v Ai 71(7) V !1 1 )aAJ\
Deputy County Clerk X
- APP'f2Oj9ED AS TO RM:
County Attorney
. `" - Date Presented: Jansary 16, 1973
OFFICE OF BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
PHONE (3031 3564000 EXT.200
P.O.BOX 758
e GREELEV,COLORADO 80631
•
COLORADO
March 5, 1980
Robert Martin
P. O. Box 1970
Greeley, Colorado 80632
Dear Mr. Martin :
In response to the questions in your letter dated February 27,
1980, the Board presents the following information:
1. The Weld County Attorney and his staff are under
the direct control of the Board of County Commis-
sioners and therefore must follow policies set by
the Board.
2 . As stated in the attached resolution, department
heads and employees are required to obtain approval
from the Board prior to any lobbying. Mr. Lowenbach' s
position on this piece of legislation was taken with
full knowledge and prior approval of the Board of
County Commissioners.
3. Pursuant to County policy, Mr. Lowenbach' s travel
expenses were paid for by the County; however, in
compliance with said policy, Mr. Lowenbach paid for
his own lunch.
Due to the ongoing interest in positions taken by the Board of
Commissioners on various pieces of legislation , the Board will
begin making regular reports at the Wednesday meetings, briefly
• reviewing actions or statements made by the Board on legislative
measures.
•
800811
R. Martin -- Page 2
March 5, 1980
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to
contact our office.
Sincerely,
Board of County Commissioners
C6. /
C. W. Kirby
Chairman
rjk
enc.
cc: County Council
February 27, 1980 NS
Mr. William Kirby, Chairman
OtieWeld County Commissioner' s
Centennial Center
Greeley CO 80631
Dear Bill:
I am attaching new' s releases and a copy of Mr. Robert Lowenbach' s
testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on February 4, 1980
regarding Senate Bill 97.
Yesterday I appeared as a private citizen on this Legislation before
the House Judiciary Committee. Mr. Lowenbach also appeared and from
question' s asked him it was evident that he had done some lobbying
with individual Legislator' s on this Legislation.
My question' s are these:
1. Since the County Attorney' s office is under direct control of
the Board of County Commissioner' s, who decides if and when
to take a stand on Legislation or to have Legislation
introduced?
2. What is the policy of the Board of Commission' s on this
matter?
3. As a private citizen who paid his own way to Denver, bought
his own lunch, was not compensated for his time, paid his
own mailing cost and telephone cost, I question who paid for
Mr. Lowenbach' s expenses and who authorized this expenditure?
As a private citizen I am sending a copy of this letter at my expense
to Mr. Ralph Waldo, President of the County Council. I am asking
Mr. Waldo to bring this up at the next regular meeting of the County
Council on Thursday, March 6, 1980.
I am also requesting your cooperation in this matter and requesting that
you bring Mr. Lowenbach's time sheet and expense voucher' s for his/ 44
time spent on this piece of Legislation, Senate Bill 97. 7.11r' ,,' �
4r
Sincerely, th.T1 - ' "l
c °j/ r.Y-'....-_ ,nAAAAteke z t 1? /
obert Martin
•
•
ii o ld "a t/topey. testifies 'on child�dbiise' ''
DENVER—Maaslstan eld�otu legal duty on certain persons (kchoo1. I, reportauspected child abmt#a.:' r r',
ty attorney presented testimony Mon- -,' personnel and doctors) to report in- F• ' Lowenbach said most �eop i do not
day an a bill that would grant immunity ddents of knogn.'or suspected abuse tear court suits.,11sey tear "physical
:/:..; b arsons, reporting suspected child .� w thout'tprdvtding'a correspondingly '^ retribution or harassment against the
eaning protection to thosq per- :reporting part¢ur hIS faintly,.he Said.
Bob Lowenbach• told the • Senate 6r ', • • • I , s.In many Seel, .thole fears are' not
.i
h,liciery•Committee.' a Weld County .. Lowenbach said Weld County has e •• ' eom'easonable,he added '•%.•
the r Lowenbach said the bM is sunw
'on , suit pending in District Court in which '',b county attorneys In Boulder PPuueblo:
rang of incidents of child abuse ,.. the records of the Department of Social
•
orne act y1 '3 r •i a vy }Services are to be turned over to the ' ;end Denver counties''as 'well as the'.
:`,' The bBl,S>t. i trio approved on a&1 ''• Parent. "It.�eleat:that IE the•Depart State Department of Social Services
•
roots and will be debad on the Senate ment of Social Services complies with '4,and Colorado Counties InC'Act Should
i
' Hoot. Sponsored by Sen'John' Batley, ",the.Court's order,the parent will bring i said the child fronHotl • f
l It-Colorado Springs, the bill provides ,h�t. against':the,reporting :pasty,"•� y protect the child information
anon protect},
Nit that the names be kept secret of per• Iowenbechaaid .,.. , , � ;;,,ti6 „ Person giving nts from tao and alsd'
sons reporting .., r: i , '..protect the ptumtl unJusHtie i Suspected child'sbtme , �t Admitting�`�the new Isp would not • ; attack." 'd: a t 1! 't+, > r;•:� i3
unless a court order is Issued or the per• '1" cover this part' suit; he said he' ' ,,' Sen. Ralph Cole'It Littletod previd3:
son becomes a witness in a child abuse 274,feels the effecter the litigation plus the red the only negative vote,gbestioning'
•' i f ire., t ' : c i 'r' ' , "•.1"anticipated press coverage which it ..•,,.!the bill bat the grounds that"one of the
1,1 Lowenbach said the bill is needed L':'will undoubtedly receive"w4ll make It E safeguards,of our;Judicial"system Is
�i� because the legislature"has lhaptSeed a , ^more difficult to get other persons tot; that a person Imowd his achttaea.'.';. ' 'S.`
O6-4,./rinii)uir'
[ter �► Senator Ralph Cole, Chairman
i "J To Senate Judiciary Committee Dim January 31 , 1980
COLORADO From J. Robert Lowenbach . Assistant Weld rnnnty Attorney
Subject Amendment of 19-10-11 S Cnor Wing Acc sc to Rernrds
Regarding Child Abuse or Nec,lect
The Child Protection Act of 1975, 19-10-101 , C .R.S . 1973, was
enacted primarily to encourage the complete reporting of child
abuse and neglect. 19-10-102, C .R.S . 1973, declares as follows:
"The General Assembly hereby declares that the
complete reporting of child abuse is a matter
• of public concern and that in enacting this •
Article it is the intent of the General Assembly
to protect the best interests of children of this state and to offer protective services
in order to prevent any further harm to a child
suffering from abuse. . . "
•
It is quite clear from this Legislative Declaration that it is
not the primary purpose of the Act to uncover crimes against
children for the purpose of criminally prosecuting a child ' s
parents . What is clear , is that the Act was enacted for the
primary purpose of encouraging persons to report any known or
suspected child abuse or neglect. People in the Interest of
M.A.L. 37 Colo. App. 307 , 553 P. 2d 103 (1976) .
In promoting the Legislative goal of complete reporting of child
abuse or neglect, the Legislature set up a frame work whereby
certain persons because of their occupations would be required
to report known or suspected child abuse or neglect under penalty
of law, and other persons , who, while not subject to the criminal
penalties for failure to report, were encouraged to report by
a grant of immunity from liability found in 19-10-110 . C .R.S .
1973 . In pertinent part that statute provides as follows :
"Anv Person Part jc}pating_j_,good .faith .in .the .._.._,
making of a reP,Q. G..., , qbaa]l,.k , imM4Pe., f,roxa, any ,
liability, . civil or .crimina1,,_.t1,&t_otherwise._.
might result t?v reason 9f su.21,,rggoKting. "
The Legislature in enacting this section clearly recognized that
persons reporting incidents of abuse or neglect would likely be
subjected to suits for the recovery of damages occasioned by a
good faith report of suspected child abuse or neglect. Further,
Senator Ralph Cole
January 31, 1_
Page 2
the Legislature determined that the state 's interest in• the re-
porting of known or suspected child abuse or neglect would be
fostered by the grant of limited immunity from prosecution of
such suits .
The Legislature further recognized through the enactment of
19-10-115 , C .R.S . 1973 , the need to maintain the confidentiality
of the name and address of the informant or other information
contained in a report of child abuse or neglect which would
identify an informant when it provided in subsection (2) (e) that
parents may be granted access to records of child abuse or neg-
lect "with protection for the identity of reporters . "
Yet the Legislature, in the enactment of 19-10-115 (2) (f) C .R. S .
1973, left a gaping hole in the protection which it had granted
tgXepo ting_.Rartie' _ij nrher sprtions_A.f._the__Act_-__The_effeat-
of the literal language of .19-10-115 (2) (f) C .R.S . 1973, is to
allow any parent the opportunity _to obtain the name or• other___,_
identifying inf_ormation_regardinq a_repQrtinq party for whatever__—_
purposelbe t`the commen Iraef_Qg_civi1_ac.tlon_agains.t_ the .re-
porttng.ja ty or Some form of retribution uppa_the_.r_eporting_ ___.
_party, because. of_ the_reporting -party ' s compliance with his public
.,duty to reQrt_ auch.incidents. This access is allowed without
any showing that the reporting party acted_in bad faith.
The Bill which Senator Hefley has proposed would make the pro-
visions of 19-10-115 (2) (f) C.R.S . 1973 symmetrical with the
provisions of the Child Protection Act of 1975 which I have
cited above . This symmetry would be accomplished by the require-
ment that the court find from an in camera inspection of the
record of child abuse or neglect, together with evidence pre-
sented by the parent, that there is probable cause to believe
that the reporting_ party may have acted in bad faith in making __
the report. This amendment merely°serves to clarify what I
ThflIevve to be the intent of the Legislature in enacting the
other provisions of the Act which give protection to reporting .
parties .
If the Legislature does not act to correct this inconsistency,
a person who calls the Department of Social Services to report
that he is privy to an incident of child abuse or neglect, but
is reluctant to report with enough specificity so that the re-
port can be adequately investigated for the protection of the
child, must be informed that his anonymity_canrot_b= protected,
As a practical matter, theme ire of a reporting party to have
his identity remain confidential does not stem primarily from
a fear of unwarranted litigation, but rather from a fear of
T
• Senator Ralph Co
January 31 , 1980
Page 3
_ _physical retribution or harassment against the reporting party
Qr his family . In many cases these�fearsre not unzeasonable .__
The failure of the Legislature to enact this , or similar legis-
lation, will clearly have a chilling effect on the reporting of
incidents of child abuse or neglect .
It has been stagpsted that the enactment of this nit amendment may
be in violation of the Sixth endulen.t_tovthe' Ued _S.tates ,Con-
stitut, _,_ Clearly this is not the case. While it is true that
the accused in criminal as well as juvenile proceedings has the
right to be confronted with the witnesses against him, this right
has been interpreted by the Supreme Court to mean that the accused
must be afforded the opportunity to cross examine all witnesses
whose testimony is offered against him at the time of trial .
Pointer v. Texas , 380 U. S . 400: (1963) . Clearly if the People
• wish to present evidence regarding the report of child abuse or
neglect in either a dependency and neglect action or a criminal
proceeding, the witness would have to be produced for cross exam-
ination by the respondent. However, if the People choose to
establish their case through the use of other witnesses because
of the desire of the reporting ' party to remain anonymous , no
right of the respondent would be violated since the reporting
party would not be used as a witness .
There is presently pending in Weld County a suit wherein the
District Court has ordered that records of the Department of
Social Services , which would identify a_partyregortina an inci-
dent of spspected _abuseorneg.lect,_ be turned over. to..a .parent.
It is clear, that. if the Pepa;tmeat_of Social_ Sergices complies,
wit;tneCoprt' sorder, thg_.parent,will_bring suitt against_the.. _
reporting party . Clearly, the legislation which I am proposing
would have no effect on the above mentioned litigation, however ,
phis suit, together with the anticipated~press_coverage..whieT T
i.t_yill._undoubedly. receive,, wij.i . have a _ severe_chilling__impact
on the reporting of child abuse and neglect if the Legislature
fails to-act-swiftly-in reassuriflhe public tlSarEh0 anonymity
or re orti�i
p g persons will be protected.
The question has arisen as to why the Legislature should be con-
cerned about a reporting party who is not willing to have his
name revealed . The answer is twofold. First, the main ourpose
of t e le islation is to benefit children and the reporting party
becomes an incidental y o beneficiarf tF legislation only because
that is necessary to benefit abused children. Second, the Legis-
lature has imposed a legal duty on certain persons because of
• their positions to report incidents of known or suspected abuse
without providing a correspondingly meaningful protection to
those persons.
•
..
• yyr wlu LUL 1tul1JU l.V.c
January 31, 1980,.,
Page 4 • .-
The Department of Social Services , both on a local and statewide
level , together with many private organizations , has endeavored
during the past five years to encourage the reporting of child
abuse and neglect, pursuant to the "Child_Protection Act of 1975,",.
The effectiveness of this effort could be quickly undermined by
adverse publicity in the Weld County suit, together with a failure
by the—Legislature to` swiftly correct the problem. I urge the
Committee to support this amendment or a similar amendment which
would continue to support the complete reporting of incidents of
known or suspected child abuse or neglect.
Si e elx,0
l•
Robert owenbach
ssistant Weld County Attorney
JRL: ta
Second Regular Session
IDO NO. 80 048//1 SENATE BILL NO. 97
Filly-second Genntal Assembly
STATE OF COLORADO JUDICIARY,
BY SENATORS Hefley, and Groff; R E E e Ft ® S S E D
also REPRESENTATIVE Fine.
A BILL FOR AN ACT
1 CONCERNING ACCESS TO RECORDS REGARDING CHILD ABUSE OR NEGLECT.
Bill Summary
•
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced and
does not necessarily reflect Aayamamenndmenti which my
subsequently adopted. )
Amends provisions related to confidentiality of records in
child abuse or neglect situations to open access in cases wherein
a court believes a report to have been maliciously made.
Requires the court to order full disclosure of records in cases
where the reporting party is to be called as a witness.
2 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado:
3 SECTION 1. 19-10-115 (2) (f), Colorado Revised Statutes
4 1973, 1978 Repl. Vol . , is amended to read:
5 19-10-115. Confidentiality of records. (2) (f) A court,
6 upon its finding that access to such records may be necessary for 2 yj
F--
7 determination of an issue before such court, but such access —+ Q
--4 Z
8 shall be limited to in camera inspection unless the court
9 determines, FROM SUCH IN CAMERA INSPECTION, TOGETHER WITH
10 EVIDENCE PRESENTED BY THE PARENT, GUARDIAN, OR LEGAL CUSTODIAN,
11 AND FROM THE RESULTS OF THE INVESTIGATION CONDUCTED BY THE COUNTY ( j
As amended 2nd reading
Capital letters indicate new material to be added to existing statute. F E B _8 1980
Dashes through the words indicate deletions from existing statute.
SENATE
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1 DEPARTMENT IN RESPONSE TO THE REPORT, THAT THERE IS PROBABLE
2 CAUSE TO BELIEVE THAT THE REPORTING PERSON MAY HAVE ACTED
3 IN BAD FAITH IN MAKING THE REPORT AND that public disclosure of S
AP":'
4 the information}co' .ained therein is necessary for the resolution
5 of an issue then pending before it. IF THE COURT DETERMINES THAT
6 THE PEOPLE INTEND TO CALL THE REPORTING PARTY AS AS A WITNESS
7 AGAINST THE PARENT, GUARDIAN, OR LEGAL CUSTODIAN IN A JUVENILE OR
8 CRIMINAL ACTION, THE COURT SHALL ORDER THE FULL DISCLOSURE OF THE
9 RECORDS TO THE PARENT,^GUARDIAN, OR LEGAL CUSTODIAN.
10 SECTION 2. Safety clause. The general assembly hereby
11 finds, determines, and declares that this act is necessary for
12 the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and
13 safety.
97
• -2-
1 -
r—
February 27, 1980
Mr. Ralph Waldo
Chairman Weld County Council
Greeley, Colorado 80631
•
Dear Mr. Waldo,
I believe the attached copies of news releases etc% . nd my letter to
Mr. Kirby are Self-explanatory.
I Am asking that this matter be placed on the agenda for the next
regular metting of the County Council on March 6, 1980.
ly
Robert Martin
cc: Floyd Oliver
Cedric Hallok
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