Superior Court Statistical Reporting Manual

5. PROCEEDINGS CONTINUED

A continuance is only an instance where a proceeding has been set for a specific date and is deferred before that hearing commences. If a proceeding has been initiated and is recessed until a later date, do not docket that a continuance has occurred. A continuance should only be recorded if the scheduled hearing did not commence.

If the continuance is granted in court before the scheduled proceeding commences, and if the motion was argued in court or an order to continue the proceeding was filed, docket a "MTHRG" (motion hearing) in addition to the continuance. Unless the above criteria are met, do not docket a motion hearing if a status conference is continued.

Recess/Reconvene - If a proceeding has been initiated and is recessed until a later date, or is scheduled to reconvene at a later date, do not docket that a continuance has occurred.

CONTINUANCE CATEGORIES - Definitions for these continuance categories are given below. For each category the applicable SCOMIS proceeding continuance docket codes are given in parentheses.

5.A. JUDICIAL CONFLICT

(HCNTJC) - A granted hearing continuance caused by the filing of an affidavit of prejudice or judge's recusal.

(TCNTJC) - A granted trial continuance caused by the filing of an affidavit of prejudice or judge's recusal.

5.B. CALENDAR CONFLICT

(HCNTCC) - A granted hearing continuance caused by the court's calendar becoming too full to hear the case. These continuances result from judicial or courtroom resources being unavailable.

(TCNTCC) - A granted trial continuance caused by the court's calendar becoming too full to hear the case. These continuances result from judicial or courtroom resources being unavailable.

5.C. DEFENSE REQUESTED

(HCNTDA) - A granted hearing continuance requested by the defense for reasons other than a judicial or calendar conflict.

(TCNTDA) - A granted trial continuance requested by the defense for reasons other than a judicial or calendar conflict.

5.D. PLAINTIFF REQUESTED

(HCNTPA) - A granted hearing continuance requested by the plaintiff for reasons other than a judicial or calendar conflict.

(TCNTPA) - A granted trial continuance requested by the plaintiff for reasons other than a judicial or calendar conflict.

5.E. STIPULATED

(HCNTSTP) - A granted hearing continuance requested by stipulation of all concerned parties for reasons other than a judicial or calendar conflict.

(TCNTSTP) - A granted trial continuance requested by stipulation of all concerned parties for reasons other than a judicial or calendar conflict.

5.F. UNSPECIFIED

(HCNTU) - A granted hearing continuance requested by unknown concerned parties for reasons other than a judicial or calendar conflict.

(TCNTU) - A granted trial continuance requested by unknown concerned parties for reasons other than a judicial or calendar conflict.

Note: The "HCNARBH" (continued arbitration hearing) and "HOLD" (hold trial) continuance codes are for court management purposes only, and are not counted in caseload statistics.