Chapter 1 – General Administration

14010.17 Designating Litigation Coordinators

• The Department shall provide litigation assistance to the AGAttorney General’s Office. To best accomplish this, each facility and parole region shall designate a staff member to act as the Litigation Coordinator. The Litigation Coordinator shall be the contact person for departmental staff or the AGAttorney General’s Office, either on a continuing basis or upon request on an individual case. The OLAOffice of Legal Affairs shall be informed of the Litigation Coordinator for each case and all changes or replacements as they occur.

• Responsibility

  • The Litigation Coordinator shall:

    • Establish a system to coordinate, control, and process all legal documents.

    • Schedule legal planning sessions between facility, parole region, and the AGAttorney General’s Correctional Law Section (CLS) for responding to ongoing litigation and finalized court decisions.

    • Monitor due dates on all legal matters in order to ensure facility and staff compliance with those dates.

    • Upon request of CLS, identify appropriate expert(s) on specific issues in litigation.

    • Compile, review, and evaluate all records and documents related to matters in litigation to ensure uniformity and compliance in facility responses.

    • Provide necessary documentation for CLS and disseminate documents to staff, inmates, or inmate attorneys when directed.

    • Prepare responses to discovery requests and/or other documentation required during litigation.

    • Receive, file, and prepare initial documentation for CLS on all cases instituted by inmates.

    • Coordinate security for maximum-security inmates who testify in either criminal or civil proceedings.

    • Identify areas of potential or recurring litigation for possible facility action.

    • Coordinate with CLS to provide for briefings of the Warden or RPARegional Parole Administrator and administrative staff on the status and content of pending litigation, including the potential impact of that litigation on prison/parole region administration and operational procedures.

    • With direct guidance from CLS, provide ISTIn-Service Training for management and line staff on operational changes dictated by recent specific court orders, litigation, statutes, or general new case law.

    • Provide ISTIn-Service Training to staff on their role and responsibility as a party or witness in litigation.

    • Act as in-court trial investigator and source for necessary immediate facility information, during trial, and for the attorney representing a staff member concerning any correctional interest at issue.

    • Assist staff members during their legal contacts with the court, inmate, inmate attorney, or attorney representing staff.

    • Review confidential records and files to be used in litigation in order to protect confidential matters not at issue or not relevant to individual litigation.

    • Provide budget planning information by determining costs of litigation because of lost staff time, overtime, travel, etc., and costs of implementing finalized court decisions.

    • Provide information to CLS on the facility’s/parole region’s compliance in procedural or policy concerns.

    • Ensure improvement in CLS responses to facility contacts by the courts and attorneys where appropriate (particularly when court makes requests of the facility).

    • Schedule staff meetings or staff interviews for CLS and coordinate CLS contacts with the facility.

    • With input from CLS, where appropriate, make recommendations to the Warden or RPARegional Parole Administrator for implementation of procedural changes necessitated by prison litigation or court orders.