REFORM: to improve by alteration, correction of error, or removal of defects; put into a better form or condition.
Courts in eighteen counties have submitted 23 separate proposals to explore new ways of doing things. From these thoughtful proposals, the Supreme Court selected six to become the first recipients of funding from the new Court Reform Grant project announced this past spring. (See the March/April edition of the Indiana Court Times). The Supreme Court awarded grants totaling more than $160,000 to courts in Allen, Clark, Hamilton, Elkhart, Marion, Fountain and Warren counties.
The purpose of the Court Reform Grant Program is to assist and encourage our trial courts to examine and test ideas to improve the efficient delivery of justice to the citizens. Best practices developed through this process can then be shared with courts throughout the state. The Court Reform Grant Program focuses on providing grants in three broad areas: (1) judicial district governance and court reform; (2) county level court reform and efficiency, and (3) special program efficiency.
Although the initial round of applications did not include any judicial district level projects, a two-county project proposed by Warren Circuit Court Judge John Rader and Fountain Circuit Court Judge Susan Orr Henderson to study the issues and challenges of creating a multi-county problem solving court in rural counties was selected to receive a grant. Specifically, the judges want to explore how this might work in the context of a drug court that spans two counties.
At the county level, the Clark County judiciary proposed an exciting and ambitious project that includes these components:
- study the efficiency of hiring a court administrator to implement comprehensive and uniform personnel policies for all court employees;
- standardizing job description, recruitment, discipline and advancement policies;
- developing a judicial resource management plan to more efficiently utilize the resources, including staff and facilities for the Circuit and all three Superior Courts;
- studying the possible unification of Clark County’s probation departments; and,
- developing a management plan encompassing a panoply of specific programs such as court interpreters, GAL/CASA, Family Court, Drug Court, and ADR Fund administration for pro se or pro bono services.
Clark County is in a transition phase with three of their judges, Circuit Court Judge Daniel Donahue, Superior Court No. 2 Judge Cecile Blau, and Superior Court No. 3 Judge Steven Fleece, leaving office this year. Each of these judges joined with Superior Court No. 1 Judge Vicki Carmichael in applying for this comprehensive study. Their successors, the Honorable Abraham Navarro, who has already succeeded Daniel Donahue as Circuit Court judge, and incoming judges Jerry Jacobi and Joe Weber, who are unopposed on the ballot for this November’s election, are all eager to participate in the study.
Allen and Marion counties have each been awarded grants to study the implementation of at least some of the CourTools performance standards developed by the National Center for State Courts to assist them in evaluating the performance of their courts. Marion County’s proposal would include building an application to interface CourTools with their case management system, and studying the potential for integration with Odyssey. Allen County’s project, proposed by Circuit Court Judge Thomas Felts and Superior Court Judge Stanley Levine, will be supervised by Judge Felts. Marion Superior Court Judge Barbara Collins will oversee the Marion County project.
Hamilton County’s successful application is for a study of the flow of criminal cases from arrest to disposition by the Justice Management Institute. Their goals are to develop a criminal case management plan to promote the early resolution of cases, establish reasonable and predictable time frames for the disposition of cases, eliminate jail overcrowding and optimize judicial and staff resources. The Honorable William Hughes, judge of Hamilton Superior Court No. 3 will supervise.
Finally, modern real-time computer assisted transcription software and related court reporting equipment will become a reality for Elkhart Superior Court No. 1 thanks to a grant approved at the request of Judge Evan Roberts. The computer software and new equipment offer the promise of more efficient use of the court reporter’s time and could serve as a “test lab” for other courts.
For information about applying for a Court Reform Grant next year, contact Jim Walker, Director of Trial Court Management, at [email protected].