Court Services

Tennessee does not currently collect accurate caseload data from its courts. The problem is particularly acute in the General Sessions Courts, where almost all cases originate and where the vast majority are disposed of. The problem is twofold: In some counties, no data is being collected or reported; in other counties, data is being collected and/or reported, but in a format inconsistent with the standard definition of a "case".

The Indigent Defense Study Committee, a study group formed by the Utah Judicial Council, has been assigned to develop recommendations to assure that adequate and appropriate indigent defense is provided consistently throughout the state. To meet this goal, information about the current structures and issues in providing such defense is critical.

In 2007, Washington County implemented the Early Case Resolution (ECR) program, which is a significant criminal case and calendar management innovation and resolves 30% of criminal cases including probation violations at (or soon after) arraignment. While the ECR program has been overwhelmingly positive, it has also created new court management challenges, as release hearings for pretrial detainees have increased and are crowding the criminal arraignment docket.

A key concern of Oakland County Pretrial Services is the use of financial bonds in the state of Michigan as a part of the pretrial process. While this is standard practice in the state, it is Oakland County’s belief that this practice is not consistent with NAPSA standards.

The delivery of pretrial services in New York State appears inconsistent although the New York State Office of Probation and Correctional Alternatives has adopted a set of Pretrial Release Standards. The public safety issue is that these inconsistencies create situations where subjective and non-evidence based practices are being used to assist judges in making release/bail decisions.

APPD has a state of the art risk assessment tool but it lacks a criminogenic needs assessment. Additionally, APPD is uncertain about which treatment providers in Philadelphia can best serve its supervision population. This request will address both of these issues. Please see the cover letter for additional details.

Our discussion centered around the concern that the Sheriff's Office is not able to consistently provide the amount of deputies needed for courtroom (and courthouse) security based on the expectation of some of the Judges and by direct observance from the supervisory staff of the Sheriff's Office.

We are a relatively new division and have not organized a conference previously and are seeking utilize the training expertise from BJA to help identify and provide quality trainers and presenters for our conference.

As the Luzerne County "kids for cash" scandal demonstrated, Pennsylvania's county funded indigent defense delivery system is failing to meet the needs of their communites and the requirements of 21st century effective legal assistance of counsel. Pennsylvania remains the ONLY STATE that provides NO general fund appropriations to support U.S. Supreme Court mandated legal representation services for adults and children facing loss of liberty.

Creation of an integrated criminal justice database for St. Louis, MO to track persons arrested for offenses involving a firearm. The requested assistance will enable the city to develop, implement, and evaluate the integrated criminal justice data base over a 12 month period.