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I. General Policy The Office's staff, including its judges, are public employees and as such must be accountable to the public for their activities. However, at the same time the judges are bound by the Code of Judicial Conduct in accordance with §24-30-1003(4), C.R.S., which requires a judge to perform the duties of his or her office impartially and diligently. Canon 3, Colo. Code of Jud. Conduct. This policy is designed to accommodate both of these important public interests. II. Filing (a) All communications regarding a particular case must be addressed to the Clerk of the Office, and not to a particular judge or other staff member. This includes all letters, requests, inquiries and other contacts, as well as pleadings, motions, briefs, and other documents comprising part of the official record. (b) Complaints about a particular judge must be in writing, and must be addressed to the Office Director. The Office's legal assistants will undertake to screen complaints improperly addressed to a judge and route them to the Director. (c) If a complaint is included in the same document as a motion or other document requiring review or action by the judge, it will be treated as part of the motion or other document, and will not be excised or otherwise withheld from the judge. In such a case, or if a complaint is improperly sent directly to a judge, the complaining party will not be heard to object that his or her case has been prejudiced by judge's review and consideration of the document. (d) If a complaint is improperly sent to a judge, the judge will promptly provide a copy to the Office Director and all parties to the proceeding. III. Routing (a) All complaints shall, in the first instance, be routed to the Director. The Director will discuss each complaint with the Chief Judge, and provide direction regarding the handling of the complaint. In no instance shall the complaint be disclosed to the judge during the pendency of the matter in question. This includes during not only the proceedings before the Office, but also throughout any administrative or judicial appellate proceedings, until the matter is entirely final as a matter of law. (b) The Director shall respond in writing to each complainant, indicating that the complaint will be processed in accordance with this policy. The Director is not required to provide any further elaboration regarding the relative merits of the complaint or what its final disposition may be. (c) Following the final conclusion of the matter, the Chief Judge shall discuss the complaint with the judge to determine whether it is well grounded and whether any changes are warranted. Complaints found to be both warranted and serious may be made a part of the judge's personnel file. The Colorado Office of Administrative Courts (OAC) has two basic, distinct functions. The first is administrative, which includes document intake, sending notices, setting up courtrooms, coordinating with counsel and parties, and other similar matters. The second is the judicial function. While the Director of OAC is responsible for the operation of the agency, including the overall performance of the administrative law judges (ALJs), each ALJ is individually responsible for deciding cases in a fair, unbiased manner in conformance with The Colorado Code of Judicial Conduct. See § 24-30-1003 (4) (a), C.R.S. (2002); Canon 1; Canon 3 (A) (1); Canon 3 (A) (9); see also Executive Order No. D008 01 (May 29, 2001). ALJs are generally supervised by the Chief ALJ and the supervising ALJs who provide quality assessments through performance evaluations under the personnel system, and as otherwise determined by the Director. Neither the Director, the Chief ALJ, nor the supervising ALJs have the authority to direct or influence an ALJ to enter an order or otherwise handle an issue in a particular way during the pendency of a matter. OAC unequivocally supports and maintains the decisional independence of its ALJs and this policy is adopted in furtherance thereof. Director's Policy on Acceptance of Gifts It is the policy of the Office of Administrative Courts that employees of the Office may not accept gifts of food or other items from lawyers, law firms or parties who appear before the Office. While the Office and its employees appreciate the generosity and good will of those who have offered such gifts in the past, this policy is in furtherance of our obligation to promote confidence in the integrity and impartiality of our staff and judges, and to meet the highest standards of conduct required by the Code of Judicial Conduct. Director's Policy Regarding Ordering of Transcripts in Connection with Worker's Compensation Petitions to Review: 1. Effective February 1, 2005, any party who orders a transcript in connection with filing a petition to review in a Workers' Compensation case is responsible for making arrangements to have the hearing transcribed from the disk or cassette, and filing the written transcript with the Office of Administrative Courts (OAC). 2. A party filing a petition to review in a Workers' Compensation case who wishes to order a transcript must include a statement that a transcript is requested in the caption of the petition to review. 3. The transcript shall be prepared by a court reporter or transcriptionist who does not have an interest in the case, who is selected by the party requesting the transcript. Along with the request for a transcript, the petition to review shall identify, by name and mailing address, the person to whom the disk or tape cassette should be sent. 4. The Office of Administrative Courts will mail to all parties to the case a notification of the date OAC sent the disk or tape cassette to the court reporter or transcriptionist designated by the person ordering the transcript. The twenty-five working day time limit for filing the transcript with OAC will start to run from the date contained in that notice, pursuant to Section 8-43-213(2), C.R.S. 5. If a transcript is not filed with OAC within the twenty-five working day time limit, and no motion has been filed by a party and an order entered by a judge to extend the filing deadline, OAC will issue a notice and briefing schedule. The issuance of a briefing schedule will constitute notice to the parties that the order of the transcript has been withdrawn. The briefing schedule will control the processing of the petition to review unless, within 7 days of the issuance of the briefing schedule, a party makes a request, showing good cause, that the party be allowed to file a transcript with OAC. If such a request is made, the judge will rule on the request and, at the same time, issue appropriate orders regarding the briefing schedule. 6. The procedure set forth in this Director's Policy also applies to the order of a transcript by a party opposing a petition to review. Pleadings or other documents in excess of ten pages (excluding the cover sheet) may not be filed by facsimile copy in lieu of the original document unless otherwise ordered by the administrative law judge. The Office of Administrative Courts will not accept for filing any document submitted by facsimile in excess of ten pages. Director’s Policy on Announcement of Judicial Assignments It is the policy of the Office of Administrative Courts that the assignment of judges to particular hearings or dockets will not be made public prior to the commencement of the hearing or docket. This policy is designed to allow the Office of Administrative Courts flexibility in making assignments, as dictated by workloads and availability of judges, and to prevent litigants from using their knowledge of judge assignments for a perceived tactical advantage.
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