The Cortez Municipal Court hosted its second annual court networking event on Aug. 2 and highlighted the success of its outreach court, which recently passed its anniversary.
Municipal Court Administrator and Clerk Carla Odell said 15 courts from across the Western Slope were invited and seven attended. Representatives from Dolores, Dove Creek, Durango, Pagosa, Towaoc, Ignacio, Ouray and Ridgeway attended both in person and on Webex. Judges, court administrators and deputy clerks made an appearance.
Attendees were welcomed by Cortez Mayor Rachel Medina. Judge Beth Padilla talked about the project, along with Kerri Beattie, from program partner Piñon Project.
Since the program’s start on Aug. 1, 2023, five people have graduated from the program, Odell said. About 10 people have attended inpatient rehabilitation programs, and about 35 cases are in program outreach.
Padilla shared that the outreach court program in Cortez is the first in the state to utilize the American Bar Association model, and that many in attendance expressed their interest in the program and were inspired by the outreach court.
“We are the first in the state to use the American Bar Association model,” Padilla said. “There are other specialty courts in the state, but we use the American Bar Association model. It’s just awesome that it’s implemented and that’s been around since the ’80s.”
The goal of the networking event is to be a leader and promote communication with other courts.
“We felt like it would be our main goal to be a leader and have open communication with other courts in the Western Slope,” Odell said. “Other courts are really inspired that we’re doing this.”
Program representatives are meeting with another Western Slope municipal court to talk about the program.
“We are seeing other courts that are interested in this program,” Padilla said. “They are reaching out to us to ask questions about how our program has been implemented. … It’s definitely forward progress. We’re essentially connecting criminal defendants with resources that already exist in the community and allowing them to get through the municipal court process by addressing the underlying issues that have led to their court appearances.”
