Colorado Supreme Court Rules Committee

• Publication year: 2023
• Pages: 64

Colorado Supreme Court Rules Committee Vol. 52, No. 2 [Page 64] Colorado Bar Journal March, 2023

Court Business

Rule Change 2023(02) Colorado Rules of Judicial Discipline

Part F. Special Tribunal

Rule 41. Proceedings Involving a Current or Former Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court

(a) In any proceeding in which any of the circumstances described in part (b) of this rule are present, the entire Supreme Court shall recuse itself, and a special tribunal composed of seven Colorado Court of Appeals judges shall replace the Supreme Court for the limited purpose of exercising any authority conferred by law to the Supreme Court as to the proceeding giving rise to recusal. The State Court Administrator, or the Administrator's designee, shall randomly select members of the tribunal from among all active, non-senior-status Court of Appeals judges who are not the subject of a current disciplinary investigation or proceeding pending before the Commission; have not received a disciplinary sanction from the Commission or Supreme Court; and are not otherwise required by law, court rule, or judicial canon to recuse themselves from the tribunal. The random selection of tribunal members is a purely administrative function.

(b) The special tribunal shall replace the Supreme Court in the following circumstances:

(1) When the proceeding involves a complaint against a current or former Supreme Court justice;

(2) When a current or former Supreme Court justice is a complainant or material witness in the proceeding;

(3) When a staff member to a current Supreme Court justice is a complainant or material witness in the proceeding;

(4) When a family member of a current Supreme Court justice is a complainant or material witness in the proceeding;

(5) When any other circumstances exist due to which more than two Supreme Court justices have recused themselves from the proceeding.

COMMENT

Article VI, section 23(3)(h) of the Colorado Constitution provides that a justice or judge who is a member of the...