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Representing a Prisoner in a Colorado State Prison By: Keith Nordell Teresa Reynolds

Representing a Prisoner in a Colorado State Prison By: Keith Nordell Teresa Reynolds. Performance Objectives. Provide a basic overview of: Administrative Regulations Subpoena service Service of Complaint and Summons Discovery Interviews of DOC staff and offenders.

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Representing a Prisoner in a Colorado State Prison By: Keith Nordell Teresa Reynolds

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  1. Representing a Prisoner in a Colorado State PrisonBy: Keith Nordell Teresa Reynolds

  2. Performance Objectives • Provide a basic overview of: • Administrative Regulations • Subpoena service • Service of Complaint and Summons • Discovery • Interviews of DOC staff and offenders

  3. DOC Office of Legal Services • Manages DOC litigation, with the exception of Personnel actions • Step 3 Grievance Office • ADA Inmate Coordinator (AIC) Office • Legal Access Program • Offender reading material/central review process management

  4. DOC Website • Starting point for information on Colorado Department of Corrections is the website: • http://www.doc.state.co.us

  5. Administrative Regulations (AR) • Regulations concerning Access to Courts: • AR 750-01 Legal Access • AR 750-03 DOC Employee and Offender Litigation Management • AR 850-04 Offender Grievance Procedure

  6. Additional AR’s of interest • AR 150-01 Code of Penal Discipline (COPD) • AR 300-27 Facility Access • AR 300-01 Offender Visiting Program • AR 300-38 Offender Mail • AR 850-12 Telephone Regulations for Offenders

  7. Service of Process • Policies concerning service of process for • DOC Employees • Exceptions • Offenders • DOC staff are not authorized to accept service • Litigation Coordinators • All litigation except personnel matters • AR 750-03

  8. Service of Summons & Complaint • Who can accept service for DOC employees • Litigation Coordinators – only for staff at that facility/office • Office of Legal Services – accepts electronic Court service • Waiver requests • Attorney waiver requests in Federal Court will be done for current employees with acknowledgment that DOC has 60 days to file an answer • Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(f)

  9. Subpoena Service • Employees • Personal service • US Mail or Hand Delivery • Waiver by named staff executed when received • No guarantee of employee availability for service/waiver (sick, FMLA, etc). • Offender • DOC employees will not make service on offender • Subpoenas will not be accepted by fax or email • AR 750-03

  10. Discovery • Written (document production, interrogatories, requests for admission) • Depositions • Offenders – Leave of Court Order • Federal and Colorado Rule of Civil Procedure 30 • Equipment Approval

  11. Interviews of DOC staff • Not currently governed by AR • Policy: • At the discretion of the staff member and management, and can be refused at any time • Not private: can be monitored by other staff • Subject to facility security and operational concerns

  12. Visits with DOC offenders • ARs 750-03, 300-01 and 300-27 • Attorneys may have only one relationship with offender • Attorney or “visitors”: can’t be both

  13. Telephone calls to Offenders • Offenders may place attorney number on CIPS list for unmonitored attorney calls • Attorney requests for calls on DOC phones (case manager, etc.) are facilitated only for previously unknown deadlines of 10 days or less

  14. Legal Access Subprogram Provides offenders at all custody levels with “access to the court(s)”, as mandated by federal law, by providing basic law library services defined as “legal access” Lewis v. Casey, 116 S.Ct. 2174 (1996) a US Supreme Court decision, left to the discretion of the States the manner in which court access for offenders would be accomplished. Administrative Regulation 750-01

  15. “Legal Access” • The CDOC provides offenders with access to court on these issues: • Conditions of confinement • Habeas Corpus • Post conviction relief (Colo Crim Rule 35)

  16. “Legal Access” • Judicial Review – Administrative Proceedings Colorado Civil Rule 106 • Disciplinary (COPD) • Adminstrative Segregation classification • Sex offender classification • Sex offender program termination • Sexually Violent Predator (SVP) determinations

  17. “Legal Access” • Discovery, Evidentiary, Transcript and other electronic document review • AR 750-03 • Offender participation telephonic hearings • AR 750-03

  18. “Legal Access” • The DOC is not required by law to provide offender access to court for other matters, such as: • Divorce, child support, etc • Civil litigation such as personal injury cases • Uniform Commercial Code (UCC)

  19. Step 3 Grievance Office • Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) requires offenders to exhaust administrative remedies • DOC administrative remedy is a 3 step grievance process • Step 1 – response from actual area/staff person involved in issue • Step 2 – response from administrative head/designee • Step 3 – final review by independent officer

  20. Non-grievable issues • Grievance Process not available for • Disciplinary, Administrative Segregation, Classification, sentence computation, & reading material censorship designations • Alternative administrative remedy are available Offender appeals • AR 850-04

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