Beth McCann

About Beth

Professional Experience:

Beth McCann is currently the Deputy Attorney General in charge of the Civil Litigation and Employment Law Section of the Colorado Attorney General’s Office, supervising 33 attorneys, 11 paralegals, and 7 administrative assistants. In this capacity, she defends the state and its employees when they are sued in state and federal court. Through this work, she has gained tremendous experience in the operation of state government which has prepared her well to serve as a legislator.

Ms. McCann began her legal career as a law clerk for now-deceased U.S. District Court Judge Sherman G. Finesilver. McCann then served almost eight years as Deputy and then Chief Deputy District Attorney in Denver, prosecuting hundreds of cases, including child abuse and murder. As a prosecutor, she enforced the state’s criminal and sentencing laws. She continued her career in private practice for seven years with the Denver law firm of Cooper & Kelley, P.C., earning a partnership in that firm in 1985.

In 1991, Mayor Wellington Webb asked McCann to be his first Denver Manager of Safety. She managed one of the largest agencies in Denver city government, including the Denver Police, Fire, Sheriff’s Departments with a budget of $170 million and a staff of almost 3,000 employees. As Manager, McCann oversaw preparations for Pope John Paul's historic 1993 visit, and led the department through the challenges posed by the Rodney King verdict and the Klu Klux Klan demonstrations. McCann also revised the city's disability pension plan for disabled officers and assisted in implementing the ordinance that created the Civilian Review Board for police actions. She established the handicapped parking enforcement program, using persons with disabilities to partner with police in that effort.

Mayor Webb then tapped McCann to start the Mayor's Safe City Office in 1994, a crime prevention effort undertaken in the wake of the terrible 1993 Summer of Violence. This program distributed a million dollars a year into the Denver community to support anti-violence efforts to keep our young people from getting involved in crime and being victimized by crime. Along with Charlotte Stevens, McCann initiated Denver's juvenile curfew program, a summer yourth employment program, and helped establish the Police Impact Team system. McCann was subsequently appointed Director of Excise and Licenses for Denver by Mayor Webb in 1995, a position she held until August 1999. In that role, she oversaw the granting and revocation of business licenses throughout Denver, including liquor licenses.

Recognition and Awards:

  • McCann was chosen Outstanding Woman of the Year in 2000 by the Women’s Leadership Coalition and was named Outstanding Young Lawyer by the Denver Bar Association in 1985. She served for six years on the Supreme Court/Court of Appeals Nominating Commission for Colorado which refers names to the Governor for appointment to those courts. Her term on the Nominating Commission ended in December 2007.

  • McCann was awarded an East High School Angel award in 2007 for her work as Chair of the Security and Safety Committee at East, working to keep our kids safe in school and at school activities, and for her help in coaching the winning East High Constitutional Scholars team who won first place in the nation in 2007.

Community Involvement:

  • Ms. McCann is one of the founding members of the Colorado Women's Bar Association and served as its president in 1985-1986. She served as First Vice-President of the Denver Bar Association and as a member of the Board of Governors of the Colorado Bar Association. McCann also served on the Hickenlooper Transition Team as a member of the Public Safety committee.

  • Beth has also been active in community and non-profit organizations, including serving as Chair and Co-Chair of the East High School Security and Safety Committee, Board member and Chair of the Long Range Planning Committee for the Denver Botanic Gardens, President of Seats for Kids, a program to provide loaner car seats to low income children, a Board Member of HIPPY, a home instructional program for young mothers, a Board member of the Denver Legal Aid Foundation, and on many committees for her children’s schools.

  • Beth is a member of the Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church.

Education:

  • McCann earned her law degree at Georgetown University Law School.

  • She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Wittenberg University in Springfield Ohio with a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies.

Personal:

  • Beth has lived in Denver for thirty-three years. She and her husband, Christopher, have two children, a daughter, Lizzy, 15, and a son, Chris, 18, who just graduated from East High School. Their dog, Rascal, is five.

  • She enjoys skiing, jogging, hiking, biking, theater, photography, politics, and travel.



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