Legal Services

Thursday, February 26, 2026·40m·▶ Watch / Listen

The Legal Services Committee unanimously approved the Office of Legislative Legal Services budget for fiscal year 2026-27 at $11,681,140 — a 1.7% overall increase — while debating but taking no action on whether to raise the outside counsel hourly rate above its current $250 per hour. Deputy Director Doerr also delivered an informational litigation update on three active cases with no vote taken.

Key Actions

·OLLS Budget FY 2026-27 – ApprovalPassed

+ 1 more action

Controversies

Outside counsel hourly rate — whether to increase above $250/hour

Representative Soper argued for gradual annual increases to bring the rate more in line with market rate, stating 'I would like to see it still slowly go upwards just to be more in line with the market rate,' while Mr. Chair expressed skepticism that a $25–$50 per hour increase would be meaningful, saying 'I don't know that there are many attorneys out there in the state of Colorado that would be like, oh, okay, this is now attractive to me when previously it wasn't,' and adding that any meaningful increase 'would probably need to be significant.' No change was made to the rate.

Notable Quotes

“If you bought shares on polymarket or Kalshi about that prediction coming true, sadly, you would not have had a return on that investment because we're in this in the same or worse budget situation this year.”
Ed Dececco, Director, Office of Legislative Legal Services — Dececco was explaining that a salary or COLA increase he had predicted in the prior year's budget presentation did not materialize, and that the current year's budget situation is similarly constrained.

+ 4 more quotes

Votes

Motion to approve the fiscal year 2026-27 OLLS proposed budget as it appears in the budget request document dated February 20, 2026, with authorization to make any changes as prescribed by the Executive Committee or Joint Budget CommitteePassed

Yes (8)Senator Carson, Senator Gonzalez, Representative Joseph, Representative Luck, Senator Roberts, Representative Soper, Senator Weissman (Madam vice chair), Mr. Chair

Absent (1)Representative Camacho (excused)

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TranscriptPreview

Night. Judiciary. I didn't give myself enough time this morning. The committee will come to order. Ms. Chase, please call the roll. Representative Camacho. Here. Senator Carson. Here. Senator Gonzalez. Present. Representative Joseph. Representative Luck. Here. Senator Roberts. Here. Representative Soper. Excused. He also didn't give himself enough time this morning. Senator Weissman. Madam vice chair. Present. Mr. Chair. Here. Okay, members, we have a quorum. I understand that Director Deco circulated the budget, probably talked about it with each of you at least a little bit. So today, our job is to approve that budget. Mr. Dececco. Thank you. Mr. Chair Ed Dececco from the Office of Legislative Legal Services. And it's my pleasure to present to you the budget for the Office of Legislative Legal Services, including our Legal Services side and HR for the fiscal year 2627. I want to begin by saying a special thank you to our office manager, Sarah Meish, who was critical in providing this. This was Sarah's first budget, and she did a fantastic job in helping me put together all of our numbers and create the presentation and documents that you have received. Also want to thank Deputy Director Mike Doerr…

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