(1) The office of the child's representative is hereby created and established as an agency of the judicial department of state government. It shall be the responsibility of the office of the child's representative to work cooperatively with local judicial districts, attorneys, and any contract entity in order to form a partnership between those entities and persons and the state for the purpose of ensuring the provision of uniform, high-quality legal representation and non-legal advocacy to children involved in judicial proceedings in Colorado.
(2) (a) The Colorado supreme court shall appoint a nine-member child's representative board, referred to in this article as the "board". No more than five members of the board shall be from the same political party. The members of the board shall be representative of each of the congressional districts in the state. Three members of the board shall be attorneys admitted to practice law in this state who have experience in representing children as guardians ad litem or as legal representatives of children. Three members of the board shall be citizens of Colorado not admitted to practice law in this state, who shall have experience at advocating for children in the court system. Three members of the board shall be citizens of the state who are not attorneys and who have not served as CASA volunteers or child and family investigators.
Members of the board shall serve for terms of four years; except that, of the membersfirst appointed, five shall serve for terms of two years. Vacancies on the board shall be filled by the supreme court for the remainder of any unexpired term. In making appointments to the board, the supreme court shall consider place of residence, gender, race, and ethnic background. The supreme court shall establish procedures for the operation of the board.
Members of the board shall serve without compensation but shall be reimbursed foractual and reasonable expenses incurred in the performance of their duties.
Any expenses incurred for the board shall be paid from the general operating budgetof the office of the child's representative.
(3) The board shall have the following responsibilities:
(a) (I) To appoint, and discharge for cause, a person to serve as the director of the office of the child's representative, referred to in this section as the "director".
The director shall have been licensed to practice law in this state for at least fiveyears prior to appointment and shall be familiar with the unique demands of representing a child in the court system. The director shall devote his or her full time to the performance of his or her duties and shall not engage in the private practice of law.
The compensation of the director shall be fixed by the general assembly and maynot be reduced during the term of the director's appointment.
To fill any vacancy in the directorship for the remainder of the unexpired term;
To work cooperatively with the director to provide governance to the office of thechild's representative, to provide fiscal oversight of the general operating budget of the office of the child's representative, to participate in funding decisions relating to the provision of GAL, CASA, and representative of the child services throughout the state, and to assist with the duties of the office of the child's representative concerning GAL and CASA training, as needed.
Source: L. 2000: Entire article added, p. 1768, § 1, effective July 1. L. 2002: (2)(a) amended, p. 944, § 3, effective August 7. L. 2003: (2)(a) amended, p. 753, § 2, effective March 25. L. 2005: (2)(a) amended, p. 962, § 8, effective July 1.
Cross references: For the legislative declarations contained in the 2005 act amending subsection (2)(a), see sections 1 and 3 of chapter 244, Session Laws of Colorado 2005.