8-515.01. Local foster care review boards; appointment; exclusions; terms; training; compensation; meetings

A. The presiding judge of the juvenile court in each county shall establish local foster care review boards for the review of cases of children who are in out-of-home placement and who are the subject of a dependency action to assist in the review required pursuant to section 8-862. The judge shall establish one board for each one hundred children, or fraction of that number. The judge may decide not to create an additional review board if the number of children assigned to a review board exceeds one hundred by fewer than fifty children. The boards shall consist of at least five regular members. The judge may appoint one alternate member for each board if deemed necessary. The alternate member shall receive all case correspondence and reports and shall serve on the review board in the absence of one of the regular members. Each board, to the maximum extent feasible, shall represent the various socioeconomic, racial and ethnic groups of the county in which it serves. A list of the members of each local board shall be sent to the supreme court.

B. The presiding judge shall not appoint a person employed by the division or the juvenile court to a local board.

C. On the appointment of a new local board, regular board members shall divide themselves by lot into three classes as nearly equal in number as possible. Members of the first class shall serve for a term of one year, members of the second class shall serve for a term of two years and members of the third class shall serve for a term of three years. All subsequent local board members, including alternate members, shall serve for a term of three years, except if a member has been appointed to fill a vacancy occasioned other than by the expiration of a full term of office. The term of each member shall expire on the third Monday in January of the appropriate year. Members shall continue to serve until a successor is appointed. In the event a vacancy occurs on the local board, the judge shall appoint another person to serve the unexpired portion of the term.

D. A person shall not remain on a local board unless the person participates in the training established pursuant to section 8-515.04.

E. Each local board shall elect a chairman and a vice-chairman and other officers as it deems necessary.

F. Local board members shall be compensated pursuant to title 38, chapter 4, article 2.

G. Each local board shall meet, at a place designated by the juvenile court, as often as it deems necessary to carry out the duties of the local board. A local board shall not meet less than twice annually.