Washington Courts: Judicial News Report Detail

Seven Steps to Positive Public Relations

It's been an evolutionary process.

That's how Chelan County District Court Judge Thomas Warren describes the gradual steps his court has taken to improve how it communicates with the public since his appointment to the bench a dozen years ago. At a time when increasing caseloads and limited staff are the name of the game, Warren's seven steps to better communication are designed mostly as efficiency boosters for courts.

"If that's a pattern that we need to learn from--that we're not going to be receiving any more employees--then we need to be looking at what we do. And we need to be doing things more efficiently (and) streamline the business of the court."

"Keep in mind that I do have a real life, I don't do this all the time, and I don't expect you to go back to your court, and implement all of my seven points," Warren assured listeners at a court managers conference in Wenatchee earlier this month. Instead, he urged them to will take away "one good idea," then go back to their courts and implement it.

Here are the judge's seven tips:

1. Brochures

A big challenge for Warren and his counter clerk staff was finding the time to fit extra-judicial projects in between the numerous questions the court fielded from citizens each business day.

His solution: print up easy-to-read, study guide-like brochures that answered the most commonly asked questions. Warren focused on major, hot-topic questions, including: Criminal and Court Proceedings; Infraction Proceedings; Anti-Harassment Proceedings; Probation Referral; Small Claims Court; and Jury Service.

"One of the advantages of having brochures is the consistency of everyone getting the same answers," said Warren.

And producing a brochure is not as complicated as it may sound, the judge said. Warren himself produced several of his court's brochures, with the help of Microsoft Publisher software. Depending on the topic, most courts do not have to start from scratch. Much of the work has already been done by those in other courts. "I'm the first to admit, I steal everything I can," he explained.

Since Spanish is the first language of 40 percent of all those in Chelan County court case filings, Warren makes sure his brochures are printed in both English and Spanish. Distribution of the final product includes local attorneys, domestic violence shelters, police stations, libraries, detention centers and other community information outlets.

Chelan County has turned brochure making into such an art that brochure colors are made to match the color of the ticket defendants receive. "So, when you get a green traffic infraction, you get a green brochure, when you get the yellow criminal ticket, you get the yellow brochure," Warren said.

"I believe that the trauma of going into court causes a person's mind to go blank--defendants are just so happy to get out of court, that they haven't heard what you've told them to do, they haven't heard what the sentence is, they don't know where they're supposed to go for probation, or to the alcohol center or what they're supposed to do."

"So we start at the very beginning. When you walk into the court for an arraignment calendar, the first thing the bailiff will do is hand you one of the yellow brochures. If you ask for a mitigation hearing or a contested hearing on an infraction, when that notice goes out, the green brochure is inserted."

By explaining simple basics to defendants, even giving them advice on personal conduct and attire, the brochures help set the tone for the entire proceeding, Warren believes.

2. Juror recognition

Warren expressed amazement over how few judges participate in any sort recognition for the jurors that serve their courts.

"One of the things that I feel that are really important is to thank those jurors for their work," he says.

Warren has the name and address of every juror that has served his court since 1994. After they served, he sent them a "Juror Recognition Certificate" and a thank you letter. Also included was a questionnaire for recipients to fill out, listing their likes and didn't-likes about jury service. There is also space for comments about the performance of the prosecutor and defense counsel. These are later shared with each attorney.

"One of the things I've found is that mostly the jurors are extremely pleased by the experience," Warren said.

3. Communicating with court budget setters

Another of Warren's business goals is to work effectively with county commissioners. "Rather than just complaining about (under funding), we have to work with that particular agency."

In the past two years, Chelan County has experienced a heavy turnover of county commissioners. Warren is working now to lay a foundation of understanding between the court and these officials.

"They have come into that job with a very fast learning curve, and unless they are lawyers, they have absolutely no idea of what the judicial branch is doing. So, we have to educate them," he says.

To give each one an understanding of what the third branch of government is all about, Warren prepares an informational booklet for each new commissioner.

The booklet details an entire case scenario, with step-by-step explanations of the processes and forms used during the case. "We show what we actually use--the forms, the court calendar, all the steps using the docket, the paperwork--so that there is an appreciation for once a case is filed, what needs to be done as far as processing that case with the court," he said.

He also includes a recent annual report of the court's business, including staff profiles, changes made during the past year, annual activity, income and improvements. Warren also uses this report to communicate with the media and local bar associations.

"It contains all of the information that you would like to have in one place, and also gives us another opportunity for a media release," Warren said.

Warren says it pays to anticipate court needs two or three budget cycles in advance of the need. "They don't want to have surprises, and so we don't just communicate once a year. The whole point of dealing with our budget setters is to give them as much information as possible."

4. Give attorneys a hand

Warren's court also does those little things that make the lives of attorneys who appear in his court a little easier. He believes judges need to pay more attention to the lawyers that are working in front of them.

"I always want the attorneys to look good in their client's eyes. I don't want to embarrass them, and I want them to be effective advocates. Quite often, because of the nature of their practice, it's very difficult to do that unless they receive some help from the court."

Commonly used court forms are hung from a rack on the inside of each courtroom, including guilty plea statements, affidavit of indigency, waiver of speedy trial; and waiver of jury trial, most of which are available in English and Spanish. His court also distributes a detailed phone that lists direct-lines, since the court relies on only one incoming main phone line.

Warren also takes the time to brainstorm with members of the local bar to see what improvements could be made in his court. "We get together a few times a year, talk with members of the bar and ask, Are you getting along OK with the Clerk's office? Are you getting along OK with us? Is there anything we could do better?' Just starting that two-way communication is helpful."

5. Media relations

Warren's court distributes at least one media release per month to let the public and media know what's new with the court. "We have excellent county employees and we want everyone to know about that, and what we're doing with their tax dollars," he explains.

He sees a big opportunity for courts over the next few months to craft their own releases if they are not doing so already. "There are some great opportunities for district and municipal courts with the new DUI changes. Include good quotes from your judges on how your office is going to be accommodating and effective in the handling of the increased cases," he said.

Warren also says he takes the "honor thy local media" guideline to heart, setting up face-to-face meetings with new reporters from the local media.

"When a reporter (is first assigned to the beat) I invite the individual into our office and educate them on the difference between the superior, district and municipal courts, so they have an idea and perspective on what is going to happen in each courtroom," he says. This first meeting is important, Warren says, because it gives them the opportunity to know who the judge is, and to feel free to contact them in the future.

"The media in this community know the number to my private chambers. I want them to call me if they have a question or a problem. I certainly am not going to violate any of the ethics issues by talking about a case that I have under consideration, but I can give background information. I can also comment about various issues that are going to affect the judiciary as a whole."

6. Speaker's Bureaus

"One of the things that occurred to me when I was first appointed to the bench was that we really needed to get judges out off of the benches, and talking to the citizens in the community," stated Warren. His answer to the problem: a court speaker's program.

"This has succeeded beyond my wildest dreams," he says. In the past year alone, Warren and fellow Chelan County District Court Judge Alicia Nakata have given more than 85 speeches to community and church groups.

Warren believes strongly that presentations should be tailored to the audience. So, he gives groups a list of topics to choose from, including the following:

• District Court -will you be a defendant or a plaintiff?
• Why are criminals on the street instead of in jail?
• Small claims court--justice or a joke?
• Making sense of the judicial system--how do all the pieces fit together?
• Supervised probation--Does it work? Is it worth the expense?
• Alcohol programs: deferred prosecution as a sentencing alternative
• Why do the courts permit plea bargains? Shouldn't law violators pay?
• Narrated slide show: the functions of the court and how a typical case is processed.

Warren's speaking engagements have given him
an opportunity to meet the community. He also believes it has helped him retain his judicial seat through four elections.

"I've never had an opponent!" he exclaims. A major reason, he believes, is because he is so active in the community. It also seems to have helped following a complaint to the Judicial Conduct Commission. "I had a fairly vicious judicial conduct complaint (filed against me) which had a lot of media on it," he said. "I want to tell you that all of the work I've done with the media, I was treated very fairly, and was actually praised."

7. Weekly newspaper columns

Writing a column for a weekly newspaper was Warren's final suggestion to courts. Probably the most time consuming of his seven efforts, he also claims it has the most impact in the community.

Warren started out writing for El Mundo, a local Spanish-language weekly, once published by the Wenatchee World. "I started with the point of view of how to stay out of court," he explained. "Our court was faced with a disproportionate percentage of Hispanic defendants, and these articles were aimed at educating this population on how to interface with the court."

Ultimately, he wrote more than 41 articles for the paper, on subjects as diverse as what to do if you're a victim of a crime, to the difference between jury and bench trials.

Warren says all judges have a ready-made opportunity to educate citizens about their courts by offering to write a column for one of the state's 136 local weekly or "community" newspapers.

Is it easy to get into such publications? "The average publication would fall over dead if a judge offered to write a column for them dealing with the law," Warren said.

This article was taken from Warren's "Seven positive ideas for media, community and courthouse education," presented to court managers at their annual Conference in Wenatchee earlier this month. It was adapted from a similar presentation he regularly co-hosts with Rhode Island District Court Judge Robert Pirraglia. Under sponsorship of the National Conference of Special Court Judges, the duo has spoken to judges in nearly a dozen states since 1995 to show judges and court employees how to get information to the public through local media channels. Warren has been on the Chelan County bench since 1984.