STATE of Colorado, for the Use of the DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS v. Federico PENA, Mayor of the City and County of Denver; J.D. MacFarlane, Manager of Safety, City and County of Denver; John Simonet, Director of Corrections for the City and County of Denver; Mose Trujillo, Warden of the Jail for the City and County of Denver; and Sal Carpio, Robert Crider, Kathy Donohue, Stephanie Foote, Ted Hackworth, Nieves McIntire, Kathy Reynolds, William Roberts, William Scheitler, John Silchia, and Paul Swalm, City Council Members, City and County of Denver
No. 94SC227
Supreme Court of Colorado, En Banc
Feb. 20, 1996
912 P.2d 48
Accordingly, it is hereby ordered that Jay B. Davis be suspended from the practice of law for one year and one day, effective thirty days after the issuance of this opinion. See
Daniel E. Muse, City Attorney, Stan M. Sharoff, Assistant City Attorney, Denver, for Respondents/Cross Petitioners.
Bruno, Bruno & Colin, P.C., Marc F. Colin, Richard A. Stubbs, Denver, for Amici Curiae Board of County Commissioners and County Sheriffs of the following counties: Adams, Alamosa, Arapahoe, Baca, Boulder, Clear Creek, Delta, Douglas, El Paso, Fremont, Gilpin, Grand, Gunnison, Jackson, La Plata, Lincoln, Montrose, Morgan, Prowers, Pueblo, Rio Blanco, Rio Grande, Routt, Saguache, Summit, and Yuma.
Justice SCOTT delivered the Opinion of the Court.
This case is one of several litigated by the Department of Corrections (DOC) and the City and County of Denver regarding the transfer of state-sentenced prisoners from county jails to state prisons. The litigation has focused upon overcrowded conditions in the Denver County Jail due in part to a backlogging of state-sentenced prisoners in that facility. We granted certiorari to determine whether the court of appeals erred when it (1) held that a district court may order the DOC to take state-sentenced prisoners in a particular order; and (2) vacated that portion of the Denver District Court‘s order which directed the DOC to ignore an Arapahoe County District Court order.1
The State of Colorado (State) filed its petition for certiorari seeking our review of the court of appeals’ judgment in State ex rel. Dep‘t of Corrections v. Pena, No. 93CA0820 (Colo.App.1994) (not selected for publication). The court of appeals held that the DOC‘s practice of backlogging state-sentenced prisoners at the Denver County Jail violated a 1987 permanent injunction issued by the Denver District Court (Denver Order) requiring it to remove state-sentenced prisoners within seventy-two hours. Federico Pena, Mayor of the City and County of Denver; J.D. MacFarlane, Manager of Safety for the City and County of Denver; John Simonet, Director of Corrections for the City and County of Denver; Mose Trujillo, Warden of the Jail for the City and County of Denver; and several City Council Members for the City and County of Denver (Denver) filed a cross petition seeking review of that portion of the court of appeals’ judgment holding that the Denver District Court did not have the authority to direct the DOC to disregard an Arapahoe County District Court order. As set forth below, we affirm.
I
A. The 1987 Denver Order
In 1986, because of overcrowding in
On September 28, 1987, the Denver District Court entered a permanent injunction requiring the DOC to remove all state-sentenced prisoners from the Denver County Jail within seventy-two hours and prohibiting the DOC from backlogging state-sentenced prisoners at that facility.5 In addition, the trial court held that the Denver County Jail, given the conditions of extreme overcrowding, was under no obligation to accept technical parole violators tendered to it by state authorities. Finally, pursuant to section
DOC appealed the latter two rulings by the trial court.6 However, DOC did not seek review of the injunction requiring it to immediately remove state-sentenced prisoners from the Denver County Jail. The Denver Order, which was not appealed, thus became a final judgment.
B. The 1991 Arapahoe County District Court Order
In connection with a separate criminal proceeding, the Arapahoe County District Court was confronted by the consequences of the DOC‘s backlogging practices when DOC did not take immediate custody of the defendant remanded to its custody in People v. Christy, No. 89CR77 (Arapahoe County Dist. Ct. Apr. 2, 1991) (Arapahoe Order).7 Noting a “statewide backlog” regarding the transfer of state-sentenced prisoners from county to state facilities, the Arapahoe trial court entered its order on April 2, 1991. The DOC did not seek review of the Arapahoe Order, which by operation of law became final. Pursuant to the Arapahoe Order, the court ordered the DOC to (1) “place all inmates throughout the state awaiting transfer to DOC on a statewide backlog list in order of their sentencing date“; (2) transfer county inmates to state facilities “on a ‘first on list
C. Enforcement of the Denver Order
In light of the Arapahoe Order, the DOC sought to modify the Denver Order by filing a motion for relief from the order with the Denver District Court. In response, Denver filed a motion to enforce the Denver Order. On May 3, 1991, after a hearing, the Denver District Court denied the DOC‘s request to modify the Denver Order:
This matter comes before the court pursuant to two motions, one filed by . . . [DOC] and [Denver]. [DOC] seeks by its motion to modify the injunction previously issued by this court in 1987. [Denver‘s] motion seeks to enforce the injunction. The triggering mechanism for the filing of both motions is an order entered April 2, 1991 by the Honorable Richard D. Turelli in the case of People vs. Christy, etal., [sic] 89CR77 in the District Court for Arapahoe County. This court‘s order from 1987 and Judge Turelli‘s order when read together place the [DOC] on the horns of a dilemma. The dilemma, simply stated, is if the [DOC] follows either order it stands potentially to be in violation of the other order. . . .
This Court‘s order of October 2, 1987, nunc pro tunc to September 28, 1987 was a limited order relating only to the Denver County Jail. The ruling in People vs. Christy, supra, purports to set up a comprehensive statewide prioritization of the backlogged state[-sentenced] prisoners. . . .
In his argument, which the Court believes was well reasoned and thoughtful, Mr. Sanzo on behalf of [DOC] urged that what was needed was a statewide comprehensive solution to the problem because the problem is statewide. His argument suggested that with the 13 orders which have been issued to the [DOC] in a piecemeal fashion, that the dilemma now faced by the [DOC] was almost inevitable.
Mr. Sharoff, in his argument for [Denver] noted that perhaps the only two detention facilities in the state that are overcrowded were before the court. The statistics from [Denver‘s] Exhibit D seem to bear out this view. I am not certain this is absolutely true for I do not have statistics from each county jail of the state. The court remains satisfied, however, that ongoing overcrowding in these two facilities has once again compelled good people on both sides who are genuinely working towards a resolution of their mutual problems to be opponents in court.
The narrow issue before this court is whether the court will continue to enforce its injunction of 1987 or whether it will modify the injunction pursuant to the request of the [DOC]. . . . The situation in the Denver County Jail remains, even with the recent construction, that there are approximately 300 more prisoners in that facility on a daily basis than the rated capacity of that jail. While all the other county jails may have state[-sentenced] prisoners who are backlogged, none of those county jails have reached even their rated capacity, let alone a number greater than their rated capacity. The court concludes that these figures show that only Denver is in an extreme and dangerous situation based upon its prisoner inmate population versus rated capacity. This factor is paramount in the court‘s decision.
The Motion to Modify the Court‘s previous order of 1987 is Denied. The Motion to Enforce the 1987 Injunctive Order is Granted. . . .
The court knows that by entering this order the [DOC] remains on the horns of the dilemma that forced it to bring the
Motion to Modify. With this ruling perhaps the matter is now ripened and properly framed for a review by a body with statewide jurisdiction.
On April 17, 1992, Denver filed a verified motion for contempt citation, seeking an order from the Denver District Court finding Frank Gunter, then Executive Director of the DOC, and Ben Griego, an administrative officer of the DOC, “in contempt of the court‘s orders and [awarding] damages for . . . [DOC‘s] contumacious conduct” in failing to comply with the 1987 Denver Order. On May 13, 1993, pursuant to
On appeal, the court of appeals upheld the trial court‘s order that the DOC take state-sentenced prisoners in a particular order, despite the State‘s contention that the order violated the separation of powers doctrine. See State ex rel. Dep‘t of Corrections v. Pena, No. 93CA0820 (Colo.App.1994) (not selected for publication). The court of appeals found that the trial court‘s ruling “reflects that court‘s effort to fashion a remedy to enforce the injunction entered in 1987 for the purpose of protecting both the lives of the prisoners and prison employees.” Id. at 3. Moreover, the court of appeals did not agree with the State that the priority in which the DOC will take prisoners is a decision vested solely in the Executive Director‘s discretion, concluding that any contrary holding would result in an obstruction of Denver‘s “efforts to protect human lives.” The court of appeals did hold, however, that the trial court “lacked the power to direct the DOC to disregard the order entered by the Arapahoe District Court,” id. at 4, a court of concurrent jurisdiction and vacated that portion of the trial court‘s ruling.
We granted certiorari to review the court of appeals’ decision in State ex rel. Dep‘t of Corrections v. Pena, No. 93CA0820 (Colo.App.1994) (not selected for publication). Because we find that the Denver District Court had the authority to enforce its order directing the DOC to take state-sentenced prisoners under the circumstances and conditions existing in the Denver County Jail, and because we agree that the trial court did not have the authority to direct the DOC to ignore the Arapahoe Order, we affirm.
II
It is beyond dispute that, at the time this matter was before the court, the overcrowded situation at the Denver County Jail constituted an emergency. In 1992, Judge Jeffrey Bayless for the Denver District Court stated “the emergency is worse now than it has ever been in my four and one half year history with this case.” In 1987, the capacity of the Denver County Jail was 650 prisoners, but it held 1,240 prisoners. In 1991, although its capacity increased to 950 prisoners, the Denver County Jail held 1,241 prisoners. By 1992, the Denver County Jail population exceeded its rated capacity by more than 500 prisoners, a factor of fifty percent or more over its rated capacity. The trial court found that Denver County Jail prisoners were bunked everywhere, including spaces not designed as inmate living quarters. Day rooms, formerly places where prisoners could get away from sleeping areas, no longer existed; they were filled with double bunks. Furthermore, office space designed for administrative purposes housed prisoners. Stated simply, because the legislature or City
The record shows and the trial court held that overcrowding causes increased danger of violence, including inmate riots. At trial, John Simonet, Denver‘s Director of Corrections, verified the substantial increase in violence corresponding to overpopulation. The overcrowding condition at the Denver County Jail severely affected the living conditions of the inmates. Simonet noted that the American Correctional Association standards specify one toilet, one sink, and one urinal for every eight to eleven inmates. Conditions at the Denver County Jail provided only four to five toilets and sinks for each group of sixty to seventy prisoners. The record indicates that overcrowding generally has adverse effects on all aspects of living for the jail population from eating to the delivery of medical services.
In 1992, the trial court found the overcrowded conditions of the Denver County Jail were worse than those existing within the DOC. Furthermore, the trial court found that other county jails in the Denver metropolitan area were not overcrowded, and none were filled to their maximum rated capacity.
However, the record also indicates that little evidence, if any, was presented regarding the actual conditions of other county jails. The Denver District Court, in its fourth and sixth findings of fact, found “as of February of this year, 1992, the backlog has once again begun, I think, statewide” with “90 in the Denver County Jail and 270 or thereabouts statewide. . . .” Finally, the trial court noted that neither the DOC nor Denver was a party to the Arapahoe County proceedings.9
We are not aware of the relevant statistics for 1995 regarding the conditions of the Denver County Jail, nor can we find in the record sufficient evidence regarding the condition of other county facilities. However, in light of the record before us, we assume that the urgency for correcting the problem remains. The trial court found that both parties were making good faith efforts to resolve the overcrowding dilemma, despite their respective budgetary problems and increased populations resulting from more convictions and longer sentences. However, it is undisputed that the overcrowding problem at the
III
The State contends that the court of appeals erred in upholding that portion of the trial court‘s order that requires the DOC to take state-sentenced prisoners from the Denver County Jail before it takes state-sentenced prisoners from other county jails. In support of its position, the State asserts (1) the DOC‘s intake process is the sole responsibility of its Executive Director, who must have discretion over that process in order to fulfill his or her statutory duty to comply with mittimi of the various sentencing courts of the state‘s several judicial districts and to balance the needs and demands of the several county jails and all state-sentenced prisoners; and (2) any interference with that discretion by the judiciary constitutes a violation of the Distribution of Powers provision of the Colorado Constitution.
A
The DOC is a department of the Executive Branch of State Government. See
The Judicial Branch of Government has the authority to assure that the DOC, an agency of the Executive Branch of Government, performs its statutorily mandated duties. DOC officials have a nondiscretionary duty to take custody of state-sentenced prisoners. See People v. Lockhart, 699 P.2d 1332, 1336 (Colo.1985). Where necessary, mandamus relief is available to compel the performance of a nondiscretionary ministerial duty. Hall v. City & County of Denver, 117 Colo. 508, 512, 190 P.2d 122, 125 (1948). The “intake” statutes, sections
We agree that, in the ordinary course, it is within the sound discretion of the Executive Director to resolve how and when to receive state-sentenced prisoners and that no statutory provision authorizes a trial court to substitute its judgment for that of the DOC administrator. Cf. Kort v. Hufnagel, 729 P.2d 370, 372 (Colo.1986) However, although a trial court may lack subject matter jurisdiction “to supervise” an executive agency, it does have the statutory authority and subject matter jurisdiction to place a defendant in the custody of the DOC. McDonnell, 864 P.2d at 568 (emphasis added). When a trial court remands a defendant to the custody of the DOC, it is within the sound discretion of the Executive Director as to when or where custody will be exercised. Nonetheless, the Executive Director‘s action or inaction in response to a mittimus transferring custody to the DOC may be reviewed by the trial court for conduct that amounts to a clear abuse of discretion. Consequently, where DOC officials fail to comply with such an order, the trial court may take appropriate steps to enforce its order. In Lockhart, we held:
[C]orrections officials are officers of the court for the limited purpose of taking custody of prisoners as directed by the mittimus. Otherwise, the court would be without the ability to comply with section
16-11-301(1) and to effectuate the commencement of a prison sentence. Because the district court has jurisdiction to issue the mittimus ordering Department of Corrections officials as officers of the court to take custody of the prisoner, the court also has jurisdiction to enforce that order by a contempt proceeding.
Lockhart, 699 P.2d at 1336 (emphasis added); see also People in Interest of S.C., 802 P.2d 1101, 1103 (Colo.App.1989) (district court had the authority to hold an executive agency in contempt for refusing to take custody of an offender), cert. denied, January 14, 1991.
Here, the Denver Order mandates that prisoners be taken in such a manner as to prohibit the DOC from backlogging state-sentenced prisoners at the Denver County Jail, which should ameliorate overcrowding. A court may interpret the sentencing statutes, compel the DOC to act in accordance with the mandates of the sentencing statutes, enforce such orders, direct the Executive Director to take all state-sentenced prisoners into his or her custody, and may impose upon the Executive Director a new duty of accepting prisoners in a particular sequence or constrain the exercise of his or her discretion as contemplated by law. See Lockhart, 699 P.2d at 1336.
The district court has jurisdiction to issue the mittimus ordering DOC officials as officers of the court to take custody of the prisoner. In the exercise of its authority, the district court issued the Denver Order, which by operation of law became a final judgment of the court. As a result, the court must also have jurisdiction to enforce that order by a contempt proceeding. A court may only punish the Executive Director, however, if he or she refuses or fails to take a state-sentenced prisoner for whom there is space available in the DOC system. See id. The Executive Director may not be held in contempt for refusal to do that which he or she is unable to do. Id. However, to the extent the DOC is able to admit more prisoners into its facilities, the district court may compel the DOC to comply with its mittimus orders and its statutory duty to accept state-sentenced prisoners.
IV
Denver filed a cross-petition claiming that the court of appeals erred in vacating the portion of the Denver Order which directed the DOC to ignore the Arapahoe Order. We disagree.
The 1987 Denver Order and the 1991 Arapahoe Order, when read together, place the DOC in a dilemma. The dilemma, simply stated, is if the DOC follows either order it stands potentially to be in violation of the
With respect to situations where courts of co-equal jurisdiction issue conflicting orders, “the court first acquiring jurisdiction of the parties and the subject matter has exclusive jurisdiction.” Public Serv. Co. v. Miller, 135 Colo. 575, 577, 313 P.2d 998, 999 (1957). Accordingly, Denver concludes that if there was any usurpation of jurisdiction, it was by the order of the Arapahoe County District Court in Christy rather than by the Denver District Court because the Denver District Court first acquired jurisdiction of the parties and the subject matter.12 According to Denver, “[n]otwithstanding the existence of the Denver order, the Arapahoe County District Court entered an order which either conflicted with, changed or negated all or parts of the Denver order.” Thus, Denver submits the trial court did not exceed its jurisdiction in enjoining the DOC from following the Arapahoe Order because that order was in direct conflict with the already existing Denver Order.13
Denver fails to recognize that a district court is without supervisory power over courts of coordinate jurisdiction; all district courts are equal in the judicial hierarchy. The jurisdiction of the trial court does not extend to a review of the decisions and judgment of a court of coordinate jurisdiction. Hill v. Benevolent League of Colo. Travelers Ass‘n, 133 Colo. 349, 350, 295 P.2d 231, 232 (1956); Pipkin v. Brittain, 713 P.2d 1358, 1360 (Colo.App.1985). As stated by the court in Hart v. Best, 119 Colo. 569, 580-81, 205 P.2d 787, 793 (1949):
Here we are presented with a situation where the district court of Fremont county and that court in Prowers county are courts of equal authority and dignity; they are coordinate; neither has the power or authority to consider the validity or set aside the judicial acts of the other. Neither has, as related to the other, appellate jurisdiction; that jurisdiction is vested in our court.
A district court may not assume the authority or power to superintend or review the propriety of or supervise the judgment of another district court. Pipkin, 713 P.2d at 1360. Thus, even if a court enters an erroneous judgment, that judgment is not subject to collateral attack by another court of coordinate jurisdiction. Closed Basin Landowners Ass‘n v. Rio Grande Water Conservation Dist., 734 P.2d 627, 636-37 (Colo.1987). As a result, despite any merit the Denver District Court‘s analysis of the Arapahoe Order might have, its attempt to nullify the judgment of a court of concurrent jurisdiction is improper.
Denver‘s argument is flawed in another significant way. Denver proclaims that where a court acquires personal and subject matter jurisdiction in a particular case, any action by a court of concurrent jurisdiction involving the same parties and subject matter is precluded. Miller, 135 Colo. at 577, 313 P.2d at 999. That rule, however, is inapplicable to the instant situation. First, the parties in People v. Christy (the State of Colorado and the defendant that was state
V
In sum, although we uphold the Denver District Court‘s authority to enforce its lawful orders issued to remedy the emergency situation existing at the Denver County Jail, we cannot sanction its attempt to direct the DOC not to comply with the orders of a coordinate court, a fundamental shortcoming attendant with its ruling. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the court of appeals.
ERICKSON, J., concurs in part and dissents in part, and KIRSHBAUM and MULLARKEY, JJ., join in the concurrence and dissent.
Justice ERICKSON, concurring in part and dissenting in part:
I agree with the majority that the Denver District Court did not exceed its jurisdiction by ordering the Department of Corrections (DOC) to remove backlogged, state-sentenced prisoners from the Denver County Jail before it removed state-sentenced prisoners from other county jails. See maj. op. at 55-56. In People v. Lockhart, 699 P.2d 1332, 1336 (Colo.1985), we held that DOC officials are officers of the court for the limited purpose of taking custody of prisoners and that a district court has jurisdiction to direct DOC officials to take custody of such prisoners. Here, the Denver District Court, on September 28, 1987, issued a final order requiring the DOC to remove backlogged, state-sentenced prisoners from the Denver County Jail. The DOC failed to comply with the Denver District Court order and the Denver District Court properly exercised its jurisdiction to enforce that order in a contempt proceeding. See id.; In re J.E.S., 817 P.2d 508, 511 (Colo.1991) (stating that the judiciary has the power to enforce its own judgments and orders). Accordingly, I would affirm the court of appeals holding that the Denver District Court may order the DOC to remove state-sentenced prisoners from the Denver County Jail prior to removing state-sentenced prisoners from other county jails.
I respectfully dissent from the holding in part IV of the majority opinion that the Denver District Court exceeded its jurisdiction by ordering the DOC to disregard the April 2, 1991, order entered by the Arapahoe County District Court in People v. Christy, No. 89CR77 (Arapahoe County Dist. Ct. Apr. 2, 1991) (Arapahoe Order). See maj. op. at 57-58. In my view, the Arapahoe Order was void insofar as it conflicted with the Denver District Court‘s September 28, 1987, order.
The Denver District court had jurisdiction over the DOC and the subject matter when it issued its September 28, 1987, order concerning removal of state-sentenced prisoners from the Denver County Jail. The Arapahoe County District Court entered its 1991 order setting up a system of statewide prioritization of backlogged, state-sentenced prisoners more than four years after the Denver District Court‘s order.
In Public Service Co. v. Miller, 135 Colo. 575, 313 P.2d 998 (1957), we established that the exercise of concurrent jurisdiction is controlled by the principle of priority, stating: It seems that hornbook law would prevent a
Id. at 577, 313 P.2d at 999; see also Utilities Bd. of Lamar v. Southeast Colo. Power Ass‘n., 171 Colo. 456, 458, 468 P.2d 36, 37 (1970) (“It is familiar law that, once a court takes jurisdiction of an issue and of parties, it thereafter has exclusive jurisdiction of the subject and matters ancillary thereto.“).
I agree with the cross-petitioners that “notwithstanding the existence of the Denver order, the Arapahoe County District Court entered an order which either conflicted with, changed or negated all or parts of the Denver order.” Because the Denver District court first acquired jurisdiction over the parties and the subject matter, the Arapahoe County District Court lacked jurisdiction to modify the Denver District Court‘s order. Thus, the Arapahoe Order was void to the extent that it conflicted with the Denver District Court‘s order and the Denver District Court did not exceed its jurisdiction in enjoining the DOC from following the Arapahoe Order. Accordingly, I respectfully dissent from part IV of the majority opinion.
I am authorized to say that Justice KIRSHBAUM and Justice MULLARKEY join in this concurrence and dissent.
Notes
Id. Beckord constitutes the major case discussing