Albuquerque, New Mexico
Sunday, August 2, 2025
through
Thursday, August 7, 2025
Call to Order
President Doug Shima (KS) called the 52nd Annual Meeting of the National Conference of Appellate Court Clerks to order at 1:25 p.m. on Sunday, August 2, 2025. He welcomed everyone at the conference.
Roll Call of States
Claudia Jenks (TX) called the roll of states, recognizing each person registered and present.
Quorum
Steve Lancaster (IN, ret.) was introduced as the parliamentarian for the meeting and confirmed that a quorum was present.
Approval of Minutes
President Shima called for a motion to approve the 2024 Annual Meeting Minutes. Greg Hilton (MD) moved to approve the minutes of the Fifty-First Annual Meeting of the National Conference of Appellate Court Clerks in Burlington, Vermont; Sam Christensen (WI) seconded; motion carried.
Recognition of Passed Members
President Shima called on Megan Rhodebeck (AL), as Chair of the Awards, Resolutions, and Memorials Committee, to acknowledge members who passed in the last year: Carol Green (KS) and Ruby Crowe (AL). A moment of silence was held in remembrance of these members.
President’s Report
President Shima recognized and thanked the NCACC Officers: Scott Mitchell (AL) – President-Elect, Jim Hivner (TN) – Treasurer, Claudia Jenks (TX) – Secretary, Jenny Kitchings (SC) – Past President, Colette Bruggman (CA) – Vice President, and Executive Committee Members: Liz Garcia (NM), Lisa Dolph (DE), Kristina Samuels (FL), Brian Cotta (CA), John Tomasino (FL), and Tristen Worthen (WA) for their dedication for the success of the organization.
President Shima reported the highlights and decisions that the NCACC Executive Committee made this year which included the approval and fine tuning of the new media platform for conference communications, approval of the YAPP app, removal of address information from the online directory at Thompson Reuters, finalizing the transfer of investment accounts to Wells Fargo, and holding the Virtual Mid-Year Meeting on “A Guide to True Connection: Becoming a Better Listener.”
Committee Reports
Awards, Resolutions and Memorials Committee
Chair of the Committee, Megan Rhodebeck (AL), thanked the A.R.M. Committee members. The Executive Committee Members approved the recommendation for this year’s J.O. Sentell and Morgan Thomas Awards which will be presented at the Awards Luncheon. Retirement gifts will be given to Tracie Lindeman (AZ), Laura Roy (MO), Lisa Collins (UT), Amy Wood (AZ), Debra Spisak (TX), and Polly Brock (CO). Memorial resolutions will be sent to honor Carol Green (KS) and Ruby Crowe (AL). Host plaques will be given to Liz Garcia (NM) and Colette Bruggman (CA). A total of 71 resolutions were prepared to honor the Convention Assistance Committee, Program Committee, speakers, vendors, site facilities, and staff who assisted the Hosts. Gary Chambon (MI) moved to approve all the resolutions and memorials; Tristen Worthen (WA) seconded. Having no further discussion; motion carried.
Bylaws Committee
Chair of Committee, Megan Scanlon (VA), thanked the five-member Committee and Subcommittee for their assistance this year. Chair of the Subcommittee, Julie Clement (MI) stated the Subcommittee met every month since October 2024 noting that initial work was foundational. They surveyed the Subcommittee members to identify skills and areas of interest. In addition, they reviewed the current Bylaws to identify patterns, questions, and priorities. They surveyed the Executive Committee, NCACC Committee Chairs, and membership. Each subcommittee member was assigned at least one Bylaw Article to review and give recommendations. The Bylaws Committee agreed on one style guide for consistency and will continue to consult with the Executive Committee to resolve issues. Proposed Revisions will be submitted to the Executive Committee in April 2026 and to the full membership at the 53rd Annual Meeting in Austin.
President Shima notified the Bylaws Committee that the Executive Committee passed a motion at their Spring meeting to remove a sentence from Article VIII (Host Clerk). The second sentence of the Article to be removed is:
“A host clerk shall have the obligation to establish a separate financial account for the deposit of registration fees and any other funds received by the host clerk for the annual meeting, and for payment of the expenses of the annual meeting as appropriate. The account may be reviewed by the Treasurer at any time.”
The motion to remove the second sentence in Article VIII (Host Clerk) comes from the Executive Committee. After brief discussion, President Shima asked that the motion be passed, no second needed; all approved; motion carried.
Communications Committee
Chair of the Committee, Mary Beth Kuenzel (FL), acknowledged and thanked each of the members of the Committee for their hard work. Accomplishments this year included the move of The Docket to the NCACC website, issuing four issues of The Docket this year, and the collaboration with the Technology Committee to secure a replacement for our Listserv called Groups.io. Mary Beth encouraged members to sign up for Groups.io.
Contracts Committee
Sarah Pendleton (WA) has stepped in as Chair of the Committee to replace Nathan Wilson (AL). Per the report, the Contracts Committee reviewed the hotel contract for the Hotel Savoy Kansas City for the NCACC 2025 Executive Committee Meeting, the hotel contract for The LINE Austin for the NCACC 2026 Annual Conference, the contract for the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center event and the facility rental contract for The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History.
Conventions Assistance Committee
Chair of the Committee, Gary Chambon (MI), thanked each of the Committee members for their assistance. With most of the activity of this Committee being at the Annual Conference, the Conventions Assistance Committee will be ready to assist the Hosts in whatever they need.
Educational Fund Committee
Chair of the Committee, Brian Cotta (CA), thanked the Committee members for their participation this year. The Committee discussed ways to generate more for the Educational Fund. They also identified multiple templates for the purpose of thanking those who donated to the NCACC and inquired as to who is assigned to send these thank you notes out. The Committee recommended that the multiple templates be consolidated into one and to simplify procedures for donations. The Committee plans to work on a single new template and process to be discussed at the 2025 August Executive Committee Meeting. The Committee discussed identifying more ways the education fund can be used separately from the Annual Conference.
Finance Committee Report
Treasurer, Jim Hivner (TN), thanked the F&I Committee members by name and reported that the finances of the Conference are stable. Jim noted, per the F&I Committee’s recommendation and with the approval of the Executive Committee, the F&I Committee transferred $34,000 from the Operating Bank Account (Truist) to the Investment Account (Wells Fargo). The current balance of the Operating Bank Account (Truist) and the Conference Account (Truist), as of August 1, 2025, is $104,267.47. The current balance of the Investment Account (Wells Fargo) is $249,730.02. President Shima thanked Jim Hivner (TN), as departing NCACC Treasurer, for his many years of service.
Membership & Pictorial Committee
Chair of the Committee, Jenny Kitchings (SC), stated that this year the Committee gathered a list of states that are not represented in the NCACC and reached out to those states to promote membership. She noted that President Shima recognized the new members at the beginning of the conference and welcomed them again. She encouraged the new members to join one of the NCACC Committees.
Nominating Committee
Chair of the Committee, Deana Williamson (TX), recognized the Committee members and thanked them for their service. The Nominating Committee introduced the slate of candidates approved by the Executive Committee:
Vice President – Tim Gudas (NH)
Treasurer – Lonn Weissblum (FL)
Executive Committee:
Gary Chambon (MI)
Megan Rhodebeck (AL)
Megan Scanlon (VA)
President Shima noted that nominations will remain open and voted on at the final business meeting to allow other nominations.
Past President Committee
Chair of the Committee, Jenny Kitchings (SC), noted the Committee did not meet this year.
Program Committee
President Shima presented the Program Committee report on behalf of the Chair of the Committee, Casey Forbes (WV). President Shima recognized and thanked the members of the Committee for their hard work preparing for the Annual Conference.
Scholarships Committee
Lonn Weissblum (FL) presented the Committee report, on behalf of Chair of the Committee, Lilia M. Oquendo-Solís (PR). The Committee considered and presented eight applications for the scholarships to this year’s Conference. The Committee presented its recommendations to the Executive Committee, and all applications were approved.
Site Selection Committee
Chair of the Committee, Kate Morgan (KY), thanked Committee members for their work this year. The Committee solicited bids for the 2028 Annual Conference in the October 2024 edition of The Docket with no responses. Currently, the proposed location is still open. The Committee was tasked to examine the pros and cons of working with a third party, Maritz, to help provide locations for the 2028 Annual Conference. After considering the pros and cons (listed in their report), the Committee is concerned about the costs and the scope of Maritz’s services. The Committee needs more information in order to move forward with the idea of working with Maritz at this time.
Strategic Planning Committee
Chair of the Committee, Greg Hilton (MD), recognized and thanked the members of Committee. He presented the report of the Committee beginning with the two charges from President Shima. One of the charges was regarding a possible date change of the conference. He noted that the Bylaws suggest the Executive Committee choose the timing of the conference and the Operational Guidelines suggest the conference be set around the first week in August. The concerns are that schools are starting earlier, which prevents members from bringing their families. The Committee sent out a survey to the membership. The results noted so far are that a good portion of the membership is able to attend during the first week of August, however, 20% of the membership find it difficult to attend this time of year. Currently, the NCACC is locked in on the date of the Annual Conference until 2027. The Strategic Planning Committee did meet with Maritz and the NSCS and noted that the outside service can help better set us up due to time frames hotels are setting conferences. Since COVID, it is harder to lock down hotels three to four years in advance due to cancellations. Maritz suggests looking out two years in advance. The results of the survey will be published on the Yapp. Greg noted the benefit of using outside sources, like Maritz, saves the organization time and they have ties to other hotels and a lot more contacts the NCACC can tap into. The second charge from President Shima was to work with the Education Fund Committee to discuss what to do with the Education Fund. The Committee members have interest in growing and using the funds for speakers and other related education expenses. Greg proposed that the successor of this Committee continue progress on this charge. President Shima noted the remainder of the Strategic Planning report will be discussed more at the final business meeting.
Technology
Chair of the Committee, Larry Royster (MI), recognized and thanked the members of the Committee. The Committee discussed how best to allocate the responsibility of editing the content on the NCACC’s website. Steve Circeo, webmaster, recommended that Administrator authority be limited to no more than two or three people because this status has full control of the website, including deleting the entire site. Currently, there are three members who have Editor status which gives members the ability to upload and modify content to the website. Other Committee members have Author status which allows them to create, edit, publish, and delete their own posts, as well as upload files and images.
The Committee worked on ways to simplify and consolidate means of communication with the NCACC members. Thanks to the efforts of Committee Vice-Chair, John Tomasino (FL), NCACC will move from Washlaw Listserv to Groups.io, an email group service. Groups.io has features that include email threads that can be archived and easily searched and allows for email polls. The Executive Committee approved making Groups.io available to all members and information was published in the June edition of The Docket.
President Shima called for a motion to accept the Committee Reports presented, except for the reports of the Nomination Committee and the Strategic Planning Committee which will be considered and voted on at the next business meeting.
Jenny Kitchings (SC) moved to accept the Committee Reports as stated by the President, Lonn Weissblum (FL) seconded the motion. Having no further discussion, all approved, the motion carried.
President Shima called for a motion to recess business meeting until, Thursday August 7, 2025 at 8:30 a.m.; Charles Johnson (CA) so moved; Liz Garcia (NM) seconded; motion carried.
Meeting was adjourned at 2:41 p.m.
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The 52nd Annual Business Meeting resumed at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, August 7, 2025, with a call to order by President Doug Shima (KS). Sam Christensen (WI), serving as Parliamentarian, noted the presence of a quorum.
Nominating Committee
President Shima called for further nominations from the floor. Having no further nominations, President Shima asked for a motion to close the nominations. Greg Hilton (MD) moved to close nominations; Liz Garcia (NM) seconded; motion carried.
President Shima called for motion to approve slate of nominations provided by the Nominating Committee. Liz Garcia (NM) moved to accept the nominations; Irene Bizzoso (PA-retired) seconded the motion. Having no further discussion, motion carried.
Strategic Planning Committee
Chair of Committee, Greg Hilton (MD), continued Strategic Planning report. Reviewed the survey results. Results showed no clear direction on moving the conference from the first week of August. A majority of members would attend the conference regardless of the date. Taking survey results into account, it is suggested the NCACC assess the date at every conference, looking out two years in advance beginning with the Annual Conference for 2028. If NCACC decides to work with Maritz, the Committee suggests giving Maritz the week of July 16-20, 2028, as a priority week with the first week of August as a second option and another proposed week in July as an option. Discussion from membership followed. Members stated there are other conferences held in July and they may compete with the Annual Conference. Other concerns are the family aspect (when children start school) and location of conference depending on location due to weather (hurricane season, etc.). Some members appreciate the consistency of the current conference date range. Continued conversation at the next conference is suggested to move forward.
President Shima asked for a motion to approve both the Nominating Committee Report and the Strategic Planning Committee Report. Liz Garcia (NM) moved to approve the committee reports; Greg Hilton (MD) seconded the motion. Having no further discussion, the motion carried.
President Shima made statements for the good of the order. He thanked Hosts, Liz Garcia (NM) and Colette Bruggman (CA), for a successful conference. He thanked several Committee Members for their help with moving the organization forward. He thanked Scott Mitchell (AL) for his mentorship and continued support during the presidency.
Gavel passed to President Scott Mitchell (AL). President Mitchell thanked Past President Shima for being an excellent leader and Ambassador of the NCACC and recognized all the hard work he has done and continues to do.
President Mitchell shared this year’s vision of “Growing Together.” He presented three things he would like NCACC to grow:
1) Grow as an organization by growing the awareness of the NCACC. Use LinkedIn, know that we are out there and the benefits of our organization. He plans to charge the Strategic Planning Committee with developing a strategic plan to help with continuity of the organization.
2) Grow as a professional including an increase in content of The Docket and increase our educational offerings throughout the year (Quarterly).
3) Grow the Rule of Law by increasing outreach and educating young people about the judiciary and the profession of law, especially in smaller towns.
President Mitchell encouraged members to sign up for Committees and plans to get committee plans out by end of August 2025.
President Mitchell called for a motion to adjourn. Past President Dough Shima (KS) so moved; Julie Clement (MI) seconded; motion carried.
Meeting adjourned at 9:25 a.m.