Joint Budget Committee
Chief Justice Monica Márquez opened the Judicial Department's budget hearing with a self-described 'modest' ask of under 1% general fund growth, but committee members spent much of the session probing why the branch's request never seems to fold cleanly into the Governor's proposal despite meeting the executive's own deadlines.
Key Actions
Notable Quotes
“Importantly, we do not control our workload. We respond to what comes in the door and we must process those cases consistent with constitutional and statutory due process requirements, including deadlines and policy choices that reflect decisions made by the General Assembly.”
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Sign in to subscribeMorning, the joint budget committee will come to order. We are beginning today with our hearing for the judicial department, and we are joined by Chief Justice Marquez. And so I will turn it over to you unless. Okay. All right. Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm Monica Marquez, and with me today is our state Court administrator, Stephen Vasconcelos. I'm the senior justice on the Supreme Court, where I have served now for 15 years. And in July 2024, I began a three year term as Chief Justice. Over the past year or so, I have spent a great deal of time on the road with Mr. Bas Gonzelos and Andy Rotman, who serves as counsel to the Chief Justice. And during that time, we visited all 23 of our judicial districts across Colorado in order to speak with chief judges, court executives, chief probation officers, and meet directly with frontline staff, or court staff and probation staff. And as part of that trip, we heard what is working well and what isn't. And we saw for ourselves many of the facilities and security challenges facing our courts, particularly in the rural parts of our state. As you might imagine,…
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