HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Read Before Packet - 3/28/2017 - Memorandum From Carrie Daggett Re: Agenda Item #4 - Ordinance No. 52, 2017 Amending Chapter 19 Of The City Code Adopting The Colorado Rules Of Civil Procedure1
John Duval, Deputy City Attorney
3-28-17
A D O P T I O N O F C O L O R A D O R U L E S O F
C I V I L P R O C E D U R E F O R C I V I L
A C T I O N S I N M U N I C I PAL C O U R T
HOME RULE POWERS
• Colo. Const. grants home rule municipalities power to create
municipal courts; define and regulate their “jurisdiction, powers and
duties”
• Town of Frisco v. Baum, in 2004 Colo. Supr. Ct. confirmed home rule
municipal courts can have jurisdiction to consider not just violations
of charter and ordinances, but other matters arising under charter or
ordinances, such as appeals of land use decisions (i.e., civil actions)
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CHARTER & CODE PROVISIONS
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• Charter Article VII, §1 vests Municipal Court with “original
jurisdiction of all causes arising under the City’s Charter and
ordinances”; not just violations of Charter and ordinances.
• Also states: “Rules of procedure . . . shall be enacted by Council
upon recommendation of the Municipal Judge.”
• City Code §19-3 adopts Colorado Municipal Court Rules of
Procedure and other rules of procedure, but govern only
prosecutions of Charter and ordinance violations; inadequate to
govern civil actions filed in Municipal Court
ORDINANCE NO. 052, 2017
• Adopts Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure (CRCP); rules adopted
by Supreme Court to govern civil actions in District Courts.
• CRCP in effect for decades; amended, clarified and ruled upon by the
courts many times; provide comprehensive and coherent procedures
governing civil actions.
• Civil actions not involving Charter or ordinance violations likely filed in
Municipal Court also kind of civil actions typically filed in District
Courts (i.e., Rule 106 action appealing land use decision).
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REASONS TO ADOPT CRCP
• CRCP promulgated by Colorado Supreme Court.
• CRCP used by District Courts to hear same civil actions likely filed in
Municipal Court.
• CRCP provide comprehensive, coherent and time-tested procedures.
• Drafting procedures different than CRCP would be “reinventing the
wheel”; confusing to courts and litigants already familiar with CRCP.
• Other home rule municipalities with similar broad jurisdiction have
adopted CRCP, including: Aurora, Frisco and Yuma.
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RETROACTIVE APPLICATION
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• Ordinance applies CRCP retroactively to civil actions filed in Municipal Court on or
after January 1, 2017; will apply to pending civil action.
• Retroactive application of procedural law not prohibited as “retrospective in its
operation” (Article II, § 11 of the Colo. Const; Golden v. Parker (Supr. Ct. 2006);
Abromeit v. Denver Career Services Board (Ct. App. 2005)).
• Retroactive application of substantive law that impairs vested right, creates new
obligation, imposes new duty or attaches new disability is prohibited.
• Case law is clear that the CRCP “are procedural” and they make “no attempt to
affect the substantive rights of litigants.” Crowley v. Hardman Brothers (Supr. Ct.
1950); Churchill v. Univ. of Colo. (Ct. App. 2010).
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QUESTIONS?