Levy's Judges Bill Becomes Law

A bill that would prohibit state trial judges from hearing cases to which current or former colleagues on the bench are parties was signed into law this week.

HB 1193 was signed by Gov. Bill Ritter Monday.

The measure was inspired by a controversy surrounding an adverse possession case in Boulder County. The district judge hearing the case, which involved a land dispute between a former member of the same court and his wife and their neighbors, did not recuse himself.

Under the new law, which takes effect in August, either party to a lawsuit can request the judge to recuse himself or herself if the opposing party is a current or former member of the same court. The judge would have to grant the request and the state supreme court would appoint a judge from another district to hear the case.

Sponsor Claire Levy, D-Boulder, said she introduced the measure after the land dispute involving former Boulder County judge Richard McLean caused some observers to question whether Judge James C. Klein should have refused to hear the case.

McLean, who also served as Boulder mayor, sat on the district court in Boulder County for 15 years.

Another measure, aimed at toughening requirements to obtain title to land under the centuries-old adverse possession doctrine, awaits Ritter's signature.

Adverse Possession Bill to Be Considered on Second Reading in House Monday

HB 1148, the bill that would make substantial changes to Colorado's law of adverse possession, will be taken up in the House on second reading Mon., Feb. 11.

The bill, sponsored by Reps. Claire Levy, D-Boulder, and Rob Witwer, R-Evergreen, would make it much more difficult for a person to obtain title to another person's land under the doctrine of adverse possession.

A controversial Boulder case in 2007 drew attention to a perceived need to update the law of adverse possession in the state.

Adverse Possession Reform Bill Goes to House Floor

The bill aimed at toughening requirements to obtain title to land through the ancient doctrine of "adverse possession," a process that stirred controversy in Boulder last year, is on the way to consideration by the House after a committee approved it Wednesday.

HB 1148, which has broad bipartisan support, was inspired by the case of a Boulder couple who lost part of a parcel of land they planned to use for a retirement home to a former state judge and his politically active wife. The Boulder County district court that entered the order transferred ownership of the land from Don and Susie Kirlin to Richard McLean and Edith Stevens.

Colorado law has long held that a person can obtain title to another person's land if they occupy it continuously and openly for at least 18 years.

The bill would put in place a requirement that plaintiffs seeking a court order transferring title under the adverse possession doctrine prove, by clear and convincing evidence, that they believed in good faith that they owned the land and would authorize judges to require claimants to pay for the land in question.

The committee heard testimony from the Kirlins.

Bill sponsor Rep. Rob Witwer, R-Evergreen, said that Colorado might have the most permissive adverse possession law in the country. He said that his bill would update the state's law to make it consistent with that in place in a number of other states.

The bill now goes to the House floor. HB 1148 is also sponsored by Rep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder.

Levy's Judge Assignment Bill a Reaction to Boulder Land Seizure Controversy?

Rep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder, has introduced a bill that would forbid district judges from hearing any case in which a current or former judge of the same court is a party.

HB 1193 may well be a reaction to the controversy involving an adverse possession claim by former Boulder County district judge Richard McLean and his wife Edith Stevens, which was decided favorably to the ex-jurist by a former colleague on the bench.

Levy took some mild criticism in the autumn because Stevens had been associated with her election campaign. It appears, though, that her sponsorship of another bill aimed at updating and tightening the state's adverse possession statute and this proposed legislation indicates that she may be uncomfortable with, or even opposed to, the outcome in the Kirlin case.

HB 1193 does not yet have a Senate sponsor. It has been assigned to the House Judiciary Committee.

Adverse Possession Overhaul Introduced

A bill that would make it harder for people to win a court order awarding ownership of land belonging to others has been introduced in the legislature.

HB 1148, sponsored by Reps. Claire Levy, D-Boulder, and Rob Witwer, R-Evergreen, and Sen. Ron Tupa, D-Boulder, arises from a controversy over a successful "adverse possession" claim by former Boulder County judge Richard McLean and his wife.

In that case a landowner lost 1,400 square feet of land after McLean and Edith Stevens successfully convinced a state court that they had regularly used the land for 25 years without protest from Don and Susie Kirlin and prior owners.

The bill would change existing law to make clear that adverse possession plaintiffs must demonstrate a "good faith" belief in their ownership of the land and prove their claim by "clear and convincing evidence" instead of the "preponderance of the evidence."

The bill has drawn 32 bipartisan cosponsors in the House, including Minority Leader Mike May, R-Parker, Assistant Minority Leader David Balmer, R-Centennial, and Majority Caucus Chair Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora, and 17 co-sponsors in the Senate, including 10 Republicans and Democrats Betty Boyd of Lakewood, Bob Bacon of Fort Collins, Dan Gibbs of Silverthorne, Chris Romer of Denver, Paula Sandoval of Denver, and Suzanne Williams of Aurora.