Jurisdiction & Portability Work Group

June 29, 2000

Members Present: Wayne Blair, Chair; Jeannie Hale, Robert Harris, Sam Cozza, Deborah Fleck, Jeff Ramsdell, Randy Fritzler, Stephen Holman, Susan Owens, Richard Fitterer, Madelyn Botta, Jill O'Cain, Doug Mincher, Rena Hollis, Marianne Walters, Morris Rosenberg, Jerome Shulkin, Adam Kline, Bob Stalker for Jim Bamberger, Larry McKeeman

Others Present: Janet McLane, Kathy Gerke, Mary McQueen, Yolande Williams, Janice Niemi

Presentation of California Court Consolidation

Yolande Williams, Seattle Municipal Court Administrator gave an overview of the 15-year transition in California to "coordinated" and then consolidated trial courts, a process which was motivated by the inequities and inadequacies of local funding and the demand for greater efficiencies in the court system. Coordination of trial court staff and judicial resources was promoted by financial incentives from the state; in 1999 a constitutional amendment was passed allowing courts to vote to unify. Yolande noted particular efficiencies, which were achieved starting with the coordination phase, by combining personnel, financial and case management systems among the trial courts.

Subcommittee reports

Jurisdiction and Pro Tem Subcommittee (Present: Sam Cozza, Madelyn Botta, Jill O'Cain, Susan Owens, Jeff Ramsdell Jerome Shulkin, Bob Stalker for Jim Bamberger)

Judge Cozza reported the subcommittee is focusing attention on:

• Raising the ceiling for certain misdemeanor offenses
• Relaxing restrictions on use of pro tem judges to allow any elected or "honorably" retired judge to sit without consent of parties
• Establishing a certain level of exclusive civil jurisdiction for district courts
• Establishing mandatory arbitration at district court and increasing mandatory level at superior court
• Establishing reasonable increases in jurisdiction; allowing attorney fees for parties seeking to enforce judgments
• Court facilitators - finding a way to institutionalize with stable funding

At Wayne Blair's request, Judge Cozza agreed that his subcommittee would also review the problem of conflicts of interest that occur among part-time municipal and district court judges, and the potential of moving part-time positions to full time.

Merger Subcommittee (Present: Wayne Blair, Bob Harris, Steve Holman, Morris Rosenberg, Marianne, Walters, Deborah Fleck, Richard Fitterer, Joseph Gavinski, Larry McKeeman, Janice Niemi, Mary McQueen)

Wayne Blair reported on the morning's conference call discussion with Bill Hewitt, National Center for State Courts, and co-author of the book Trial Court Structure and Performance. Bill Hewitt noted three criteria that are central to high performance courts, regardless of their structure:

• Clearly defined and strong role of the presiding judge
• Method for flexible assignment of judicial officers depending on workload needs
• Coordination of staff resources

Wayne reported that the subcommittee's discussion turned to ways Washington could "functionally consolidate" courts, without a structural reorganization. The subcommittee will continue to analyze the consolidation experience of other states as well as expenditure estimates of a consolidated system. Subcommittee members were asked to review the publication for a further discussion on July 20. Also, the subcommittee has requested the city representatives to make a presentation at the next meeting about the economic motivations that currently prompt cities to authorize municipal courts, and discuss incentives that would make greater coordination or functional consolidation of municipal courts appealing.

Portability and Specialization Subcommittee (Present: Randy Fritzler, Rena Hollis, Jeannie Hale, Kathy Gerke, Janet McLane)

Randy Fritzler reported the group focused on identifying specific areas of court operation that could benefit from greater coordination of judicial branch resources. A general statement of principle should be developed that articulates the responsibility of courts to continually search for ways to minimize duplication of effort and make the wisest possible use of limited resources. Work areas which might be candidates for a "best practice statement of principle" include:

• County-wide recruitment of jurors
• Coordination of court purchasing and accounting functions
• Coordination of treatment resources
• Centralized indigent defense screening
• Centralized court interpreter service
• Electronic records that can be accessed from any courtroom
• Electronic access for payments, inquiring about hearing dates etc
• Centralized probation monitoring
• Integration of cases that need coordinated outcomes e.g. domestic/family, drug mental health.
• Standardization of court recording rules so that empty court rooms can be used by any court level
• "One stop shopping" or universal cashiering to allow payments or inquires to be made at any court.
• Elimination of constitutional restriction of three superior court commissioners - allow an elected district court judge to sit without restriction.
• Explore ways to enable judges to communicate effectively from the bench with pro se litigants

The subcommittee reviewed the Justice, Efficiency, and Accountability (JEA) Core Mission Subcommittee report, with particular attention to the work areas identified as ones that might be handled by an entity other than a court. Tentative decisions were made by the subcommittee about work that should be recommended to be done outside the court system. Examples are:

• Name changes
• Emancipation petitions
• Monitoring guardianships (Wherever this responsibility is placed, the group noted the need for a thorough procedure for review, investigation and analysis in order to ensure protection to vulnerable people)
• Detention
• Indigency screening
• Returning firearms to felons
• Coroner's inquest
• Truancy petitions
• Receiving, transmitting, accounting for funds (The subcommittee includes collections activities in this category)

Wayne Blair asked this subcommittee to look at the current practice of requiring countywide recruitment of jurors which often results in citizens traveling a long distance to serve, as is the case with the Regional Justice Center in King County.

Minutes

Minutes from the June 8 Workgroup meeting were approved.

Next Meetings:

July 20, (subcommittees and full workgroup) West Coast Sea-Tac, 9:00am
August 4, (Merger Subcommittee only), 1 Union Square, Rm 1718, 9:00 am
August 25, (subcommittees and full workgroup, 1 and 2 Union Square, 9:00 am