Promising Approaches in Rural Courts

Key Issues Promising Approaches Network Seminars Resources

Technology

• Nebraska Administrative Office of the Courts ePayment System for Traffic Tickets. The Nebraska Administrative Office of Courts has been implementing an internet-based system that enables motorists charged with a traffic offense to pay the fine electronically. Typical traffic citations that can be paid on-line include speeding tickets, seat belt violations, driving without current tags, failure to stop at stop sign, and similar offenses. Users of ePayment log onto the Nebraska Judicial Branch web site, www.supremecourt.ne.gov, and click on the "ePayments" button. They can pay their citations using a credit card or debit card, and will be charged a small administrative fee in addition to the fine amount. More serious violations - including driving while license suspended, driving under the influence of alcohol, driving an uninsured vehicle - will still require a court appearance. It is anticipated, however, that the ePayment system will substantially reduce court appearance as well as provide a valuable convenience for persons charged with most traffic offenses.


• Clayton County, Georgia Superior and State Court Administrators' Offices Court and Community Access Program. The Clayton County Superior and State Court Administrators' Offices, in partnership with the Clayton County Public Library System, has launched internet-based access to self-help resources for individuals in the local community. Old computers being replaced in the Courts are cleaned of all information and loaded with a computer program that allows internet access to various types of information. The computers are placed in library branches throughout the county. The CCAP provides information to people seeking legal information or need to complete legal forms but have fewer transportation options or other personal obstacles associated with visiting the courthouse. The program allows access to general information about the court system; various forms for certain types of cases like divorce, child legitimation, and garnishments; status and docket information for court cases; ability to pay traffic tickets; and links to self-help information. In addition to providing access to legal information and court forms, litigants can also receive free training from the library on the basics of computer and internet use. The Court is currently exploring the possibility of expanding the program to include other partners such as churches.


• Reducing Transportation Costs with Videoconferencing in Utah and Wisconsin. To address the costly and timely issues of inmate transport, judicial travel, and attorney travel, judges in Utah advocated for and obtained a constitutional and a rule change to allow the use of videoconferencing for hearings. Using an internet-based system, judges can hold a variety of pre-trial hearings via videoconference. The videoconference system is set up in the jail for defendants to "appear" at the hearing. Judges, clerks, prosecutors, and defense counsel have access to the system remotely through an Internet protocol which allows them to conduct hearings from their chambers, offices, or other remote locations. Participants in the videoconference are able to see all parties participating in the hearing through split screens and interact with one another.In Wisconsin, a similar system is funded locally and in place in certain counties. The videoconference system is similar in that parties participating in the hearings have split screens to see each other. A key difference in Wisconsin is that cameras must be able to "pan" the courtroom so that the defendant can see people at the hearing. In addition, the technology does not allow judges, clerks, and counsel to participate remotely - the videoconference proceeding takes place in a courtroom with a 42 inch screen for the public to see the defendant and is conducted on the record. In Anderson County, Wisconsin, it is believed that the use of videoconferencing has saved the county almost $100,000 in transport costs alone.


• Rural courts across Nebraska are finding technological solutions for some of their most difficult challenges. Examples include— • Linked computers and call forwarding allow clerk magistrates in “one-person” courts to cover for one another when the courts are closed or they are out of the office for any reason. This technology enables residents to access court services even when the courts are not physically staffed. • A district-wide, online shared “Wiki” calendar allows court personnel in the 10th Judicial District to set dates for trials and other court hearings without the inconvenience of repeated telephone calls to the various key participants. • Skype™ video/audio technology provides free, face-to-face communication among court personnel whose computers are equipped with Skype software (free) and video cameras. In the 5th Judicial District and elsewhere in Nebraska, this system is extensively used to provide interpreter services when qualified interpreters cannot physically be in the courtroom. Skype technology can also be used for conferences and meetings involving judges, magistrates, and attorneys who may be located at great distances from one another, thereby potentially saving significant travel dollars.



Improved Procedures and Practices for Cases Involving Self-represented Litigants



• Idaho Supreme Court Assistance Services. In 1998, the Idaho Supreme Court initiated a pilot project designed to facilitate meaningful access to the courts on the part of self-represented litigants. A JMI evaluation of the pilot program found it to be very promising, and it has now been expanded to every county in the state. Court Assistance Officers - functioning under guidelines established by the Supreme Court - are in now all seven Idaho judicial districts. They provide self-represented litigants with educational materials, court-approved forms, limited assistance in completing the forms, and information about court procedures so that they can better understand the legal requirements of the court system, and providing referrals to legal, community and social services organizations that provide similar assistance. In sparsely populated counties, where it is not feasible to have a Court Assistance Officer, a Deputy Clerk appointed by the District Court Clerk provides a more limited range of services, with the Court Assistance Officer for the District available to consult by telephone if necessary.


• Legal Assistance of Western New York: Providing Access to Justice in Rural Areas. Legal services providers in New York turn away as many as 80 percent of qualified people due to lack of resources. In an effort to extend their services more broadly to self-represented litigants, Legal Assistance of Western New York turned to technology, and specifically, A2J Author, a low-cost software package described as "Turbo Tax for legal papers." Designed by Center for Access to Justice and Technology at Chicago-Kent College of Law in partnership with the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction, A2J Author provides templates and instructions for common forms that can easily be customized by court staff and non-technical authors to meet local needs. Litigants who use A2J complete the forms with guidance from simple, straightforward text and voice instruction, learning about the law and their rights as they go along. In New York, the system is used for small estates, landlord and tenant matters, custody/visitation, name change petitions, child support modifications, and family offenses (with assistance from domestic violence service providers). A2J Author is being used in 22 states, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Ontario, Canada. Adopting a technological approach to common, repetitive tasks benefits the courts and legal service providers as well as pro se litigants and others who need legal assistance. It frees up legal service providers to concentrate their face-to-face time for litigants with more complex needs. The system also allows attorneys and judges to review filings at their convenience. For more information, visit www.A2JAuthor.org


• Idaho Supreme Court Self-Help Center. This is an internet-based center that contains an array of information sheets, forms, and instructions that can be used by a self-represented litigant to prepare and file papers needed for court proceedings. Types of cases for which there materials are available on-line include Divorce, Child Custody, Landlord-Tenant, Small Claims, and Domestic Violence (Petition for temporary Protective Order). The site is accessible at http://www.courtselfhelp.idaho.gov. As a practical matter, the Self-Help Center functions as a complement to the Court Assistance Officer Program. The result of the availability of forms, instructions, and direct assistance from Court Assistance Officers is that judges and magistrates who are hearing cases involving self-represented litigants have far better information on which to make decisions. The process of developing the Self-Help Center has been a collaborative one, involving judges, court administrators, clerks, Court assistance Officers, bar leaders, and advocacy groups. An additional benefit has been the development of forms (and related instructions) used in many types of cases are now uniform across the state.


• Alaska Family Law Self-Help Center and "800 Number" Telephone Assistance for Self-Represented Litigants. The Alaska Administrative Office of Courts has an internet-based Family Law Self-Help Center with forms and instructions for some types of proceedings, as well as sections with "Frequently Asked Questions" and answers to the questions. It also offers a "Helpline" service through a toll-free telephone number that used by litigants who have questions about court procedures and the filing of court papers.
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• Pro bono consortium. Rural courts on Maryland’s Eastern Shore found there were too few lawyers to fill the pro bono needs of their litigants. To address this problem, the courts in five counties started a nonprofit consortium with a budget of $150,000 assembled through several grants. The executive director of the consortium is a non-attorney who manages the program with input from an advisory board of judges and attorneys from the five participating counties and guidance from written by-laws. Although the program initially focused solely on domestic relations cases, it has since expanded to include landlord/tenant cases, foreclosures, simple wills, and power of attorney matters. In Talbot County, one of the five consortium members, a pro bono attorney staffs a pro se clinic in the courthouse once a week for domestic relations litigants.

Language Barriers



• The Georgia Commission on Interpreters, located within the Administrative Office of the Courts, places a high value on recruiting, training, and certifying interpreters across the state, but focuses special attention on meeting needs in rural areas. To recruit potential interpreters, Commission staff sends packets of information to schools, health providers, law enforcement agencies, and other local institutions and organizations that serve diverse constituencies. Training is offered via webinars to groups in rural community-based settings. Commission staff visits judges in rural areas to assist them in implementing the state’s guidelines for ensuring that non-licensed interpreters are properly instructed in their roles and the interpreter’s code of responsibility. Efforts are made to encourage regular schedules for interpreting services in order to guarantee payment, and to minimize the travel burden wherever possible. For more information on the Georgia Commission on Interpreters, visit http://georgiacourts.org/agencies/interpreters/cms.


• Working with the National Center for State Courts, the North Dakota Court System has developed a standard criminal rights advisory which has been translated into five languages: Somali, Arabic, French, Spanish, and Bosnian. A juvenile rights advisory has also been developed. Both are available in paper versions and in DVD format, which allows the clerk or the party to select the appropriate language.


• Idaho Administrative Office of the Courts Interpreter Program. U.S. Census Bureau data indicates that approximately 9.3 percent of Idaho's population over 4 years old speaks a language at home other than English. If 9.3 percent of the cases in Idaho's courts might require an interpreter, that would mean a total of about 23,000 cases in which an interpreter might be needed for hearings and trials. The Idaho Administrative Office of the Courts has addressed this problem by (a) becoming a member of the Consortium of State Court Interpreter Certification, coordinated by the National Center for State Courts; (b) conducting orientation and training programs each year for persons interested in becoming interpreters; (c) administering certification exams in a number of different languages (including Arabic, Korean, Cantonese, Mandarin, Laotian, Somaii, Haitian-Creole, Spanish, Hmong, Portuguese, and Vietnamese; and (d) adopting Idaho Court Administrative Rule 52 - a statement of policy regarding the utilization of "certified interpreters", "conditionally approved interpreters" and "qualified interpreters" in court proceedings. The different categories covered by Administrative Rule 52 reflect the extent to which the prospective interpreter has passed exams and participated in the orientation and training programs conducted by the Idaho Administrative Office of Courts. Qualified interpreters are persons who, even though they may not be certified or conditionally approved as court interpreters, are (1) readily able to interpret or sign translate from English to the language of a non-English-speaking person (or from that person into English); and (2) agree to follow Idaho standards for court interpreting and the Idaho Code of Professional Responsibility for Interpreters in the Judiciary. Rule 52 sets forth a priority order for utilization of interpreters, with top priority given to use of certified interpreters. The approach is an evolving one, minimum standards prescribed and with the Idaho courts continually seeking to expand and upgrade the available interpreter services. The orientation program for new judges includes a module on court interpreting, and the Administrative Office of Court has a senior staff member responsible for coordinating the court interpreter program and providing assistance to local courts.

Greater Accessibility of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Treatment Services



• Idaho Problem-Solving Court Initiative. As in other areas where innovations have been tried, Idaho began working with problem solving courts using a pilot project approach. In 1998, there were only two felony drug courts in Idaho, but - through the vision and commitment of the drug court team members, and their willingness to open the embryonic drug courts to a thorough evaluation - they established a solid foundation of operational success and public support. Today, following the Idaho judiciary's concerted effort in 2000 to expand drug courts throughout the state and the Idaho Legislature's action in establishing a statutory framework for expansion of drug courts, there are 52 drug courts or mental health courts in Idaho, including some in relatively sparsely counties. Providing transportation for program participants and accessing assessment and treatment services remain problems, but progress is clearly being made in serving drug abusing and mentally ill persons who get caught up in the justice system.


• Richland County (SC) Mental Health Court is a voluntary court diversion program administered by the Probate Court. The Mental Health Court was established in 2003 to address the inappropriate involvement of mentally ill individuals (with or without substance abuse issues) in the criminal justice system. Eligible defendants have been charged with misdemeanor and/or non violent felony offenses, resulting mainly from untreated symptoms of psychiatric and co-occurring disorders. Defendants may be referred at the time of arrest, at the bond hearing, or at trial. Referrals to the program are accepted from the public, law enforcement, bond court or trial court judges, solicitors, defense attorneys, probation officers and mental health professionals. Depending on the offense and individual progress, length of stay in the program ranges from three months up to a maximum time equal to the length of the sentence or probation imposed. Individualized treatment plans guide the participants’ progress, accompanied by intensive case management and supervision as the participants move to traditional mental health services in the community. Mental Health case managers maintain weekly contact with participants including but not limited to making home visits and traveling to rural areas of the County to provide services. 78.6 % of all Mental Health Court graduates have had no further arrest since successful completion of the program. For more information, visit www.richlandonline.com/departments/probate/mentalhealthcourt.asp.

Better Collaboration with Other Branches of Government

• New York Tribal Courts Forum. There are nine tribal nations in New York with different justice systems - some based solely on oral tradition. In 2002, Chief Justice Judith Kaye convened a Tribal Courts Committee to begin a process of outreach and information-sharing. Over the next two years, committee members visited all the nations and territories, meeting with tribal representatives and establishing a Tribal Courts Forum that meets semi-annually. To smooth the way for productive discussion, ground rules were laid at the outset: gambling and taxation were off the table. Six of the nine nations have joined the Forum to date, and the other three send representatives. The Forum focuses on three main issues: placement of Indian children under the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA); resolution of jurisdictional conflicts arising from rulings in federal, state, and tribal courts; and the need to educate state and federal judges on tribal laws and culture. In 2006, a "Listening Conference" in Syracuse attracted 140 participants from all nine nations, state and federal agencies, child protection organizations, and universities. The conference demonstrated the value of meeting face-to-face and led to two regional conferences in 2007. Among the tangible outcomes are: greater use of clan mothers in foster care, ICWA training for family court judges, and information-sharing to resolve conflicts. In addition, the state domestic violence registry now includes tribal protection orders, and the Oneida Nation is piloting a protocol for full faith and credit.

Distance Education

• The Missouri State Court Administrator’s Office has implemented an expansive training model incorporating distance learning along with traditional classroom instruction to ensure that court personnel across the state receive standard, consistent training in core subject areas. Through a carefully designed complement of web-based training, webinars, and instructor-led (classroom) courses, the Office has succeeded in reaching thousands of court employees at all levels, in all capacities. In the current year alone: o 2,015 users completed 187 web-based training courses o 2,613 users attended 112 webinars o 12,393 employees attended 321 instructor-led classes
• Nebraska Judicial Branch Education similarly offers several options for web-based distance learning. Some rely on existing online resources; others are made possible through collaboration with other government agencies (such as the Department of Roads) and the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Other Innovations

• Harris County, Georgia, significantly upgraded its courthouse facility, expanding its size and enhancing security, by tapping into the Rural Development Housing and Community Facilities Programs of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Through these programs, the USDA provides grants and loans to assist in the development of essential community facilities, including courthouses. Eligibility is limited to cities, towns, or unincorporated areas with populations less than 20,000. For more information, visit http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/rhs/cf/cp.htm.
• The courts in Limestone County, Alabama are ably assisted by volunteer bailiffs from the local Retired Senior Volunteer Program (R.S.V.P.). When an opening becomes available, the local R.S.V.P. director is contacted. She selects someone who has indicated an interest in serving the courts and refers that individual to the court. Once on board, the volunteer bailiff is assigned to a judge and is trained and supervised by judicial assistants and other volunteer bailiffs. Specific activities are tailored to each judge’s needs and the individual bailiff’s personality, but their functions include calling court into session, maintaining order in the courtroom, assisting people in the clerk’s office, and sometimes administrative duties such as retrieving files or making copies. (Security functions are provided by county-funded security officers who are always in the courtroom.) Judges value the bailiffs’ dependability, courtesy—and the fact that they provide an essential community service at no cost to the court.
• In an effort to help the courts comply with federal requirements regarding the frequency and timeliness of child abuse and neglect proceedings, the Texas Office of Court Administration (OCA) established two pilot Child Protection Courts in 1997 with federal funding from the Court Improvement Program. Today, there are 17 courts with state-employed associate judges serving 127 counties. In addition, a grant-funded, full-time attorney located in the OCA is available to provide legal research and assistance to the judges. She also solicits and analyzes court management data using the Child Protection Court Management System, a specialized tool designed in conjunction with Child Protection Court judges and coordinators. The system maintains comprehensive information about all children, families, and proceedings in the Child Protection Courts. A calendar display shows dockets that include cases with special needs or characteristics, e.g., security risks, disabilities, interpreter services, and criminal history. Workload reports can be run at any time for each court that include, for example, reasons for case initiation, case types, pre-case substance abuse, types of hearings conducted, extensions granted, children born drug-exposed, placement types, and discharge reasons. These reports are shared with the judges. The system is still under development; ultimately the reports will include 20 of the outcome measures for child abuse and neglect proceedings defined by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. For more information, contact Simi Denson, Child Protection Courts Attorney, at (512) 463-2608 or Simi.Denson@courts.state.tx.us.
• Many state and local courts have benefited from free security audits performed by the U.S. Marshals Service. Visit www.usmarshals.gov and click on “Protecting Federal Judges and Courts” for a description of the Judicial Security Program. These same services are available to state and local courts as time permits. To arrange for a security inspection of your courthouse, click on “Contact” to locate the appropriate District Office of the U.S. Marshals Service.
• In South Dakota, counties can opt to contribute to a risk pool that serves as an “insurance policy” in the event of very large or unusually costly criminal court cases. Expenses that exceed $25,000 can be submitted to the pool for reimbursement. Allowable expenses include attorney fees, interpreters, jurors, psychiatric evaluations, and expert witnesses. This fund is managed by the state Association of Counties.