SJI NEWSLETTER SJI NEWSLETTER

In this Issue 

Page 1 

Volume 26, No. 5 

CCJ/COSCA National Task Force on 

Fines, Fees, and Bail Practices 

Upcoming Grant 

Deadlines 

Deadlines for new grant applications for FY 2016: 

May 1, 2016; 

August 1, 2016 

Please review the SJI Grant 

Guideline for more details. 

Task Force on Fines, 

Fees, and Bail 

Practices 

1 

Body Worn Cameras 

and the Courts 

2 

Illinois Probation Data 

Repository 

2 

Arizona Probate 

Courts Deliver 

Statewide Education 

3 

SJI Board Appoints 

Acting Chairman 

4 

With support from SJI, the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) and the Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA) have formed a National Task 

Force on Fines, Fees and Bail Practices to address the 

ongoing impact that court fines and fees and bail 

practices have on communities. One of the aims of 

the nationally–led initiative is to understand and address how fines, fees, and bail disproportionately 

impact the economically disadvantaged across the 

United States. 

The Task Force is comprised of national judicial and 

legal leaders, legal advocates, policy makers from 

state, county and municipal government, academics, 

and the public interest community. Several CCJ and 

COSCA members attended a two-day White House 

hearing in December led by DOJ that outlined the 

severity of this issue and the critical need to find 

solutions. 

The Task Force co-chairs have formed three working 

groups: 

1. Access to Justice and Fairness 

2. Transparency, Governance & Structural Reform 

3. Accountability, Judicial Performance and Qualifications, and Oversight 

Among other responsibilities, the Task Force will: 

Draft model statutes, court rules, written policies, processes and procedures for setting, collecting and waiving court-imposed payments; 

Compile and create suggested best practices for 

setting, processing and codifying the collection 

of fines and fees and bail/bonds; 

February 2016 

Review and revise suggested guidelines for 

qualifications and oversight of judges in courts 

created by local governments or traffic courts, 

including reviewing and updating state codes of 

judicial conduct and the jurisdiction of judicial 

conduct commissions to ensure their applicability to all judges; 

Sponsor a court “hackathon” designed to develop innovative technological solutions that 

ensure courts are providing 21st century customer service through mobile applications and 

software platforms; and 

Develop an online clearinghouse of information 

containing resources and best practices. 

The project draws on how court functions ensure that 

the judiciary can fulfill its obligation of upholding 

the Constitution and protecting the individual rights 

of all citizens. 
Page 2 

SJI Newsletter Volume 26, No. 5 February 2016 

With assistance from SJI, the National Center for State Courts 

(NCSC) completed a comprehensive review of issues relating to bodyworn cameras (BWC), and the collection, publication, testing, and use 

of video evidence generated during state court proceedings. 

Following the April of 2015 release of the Body-Worn Cameras for 

Law Enforcement Assessment Report by U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which detailed a number of different BWC devices and 

capacities of the technology, questions began to surface related to 

recorded material, particularly as it is used in criminal and civil cases. 

The NCSC report titled, Body-Worn Cameras and the Courts, addresses a series of considerations state courts may want to explore in 

anticipation of more widespread adoption by law enforcement of 

BWCs and their continued presence in legal proceedings, such as: 

Video and Lost or Destroyed Evidence; 

Law Enforcement and BWC Policies; 

Authentication and Publication of Video Evidence; 

Relevant Case Law, including: Arizona v. Youngblood, Asherman, Merriman, and Durnwald Cases; 

Statutory Issues; 

Negative-Inference Instructions to the Jury; and, 

Freedom-of-Information/Open-Records Statutes. 

The appendices include comprehensive information regarding states 

Body-Worn Cameras and the Courts 

that follow and do not follow the Youngblood standard, as well as a resource list for additional reports and collections related to current and pending BWC 

issues. The conclusion 

acknowledges BWCs 

for their ability to improve public trust, but 

also suggests that state 

courts need to implement practices and 

judicial education programs that account for 

the impacts on criminal 

cases during pretrial 

proceedings where 

video is lost. 

Illinois Finalizes Data Repository Design Project 

With support 

from SJI, the 

Administrative 

Office of the 

Illinois Courts 

(AOIC) received technical assistance 

from the National Center 

for State Courts 

(NCSC) and 

achieved a fully designed data repository for probation functions performed throughout Illinois (SJI-15-T-043). 

The initial request for assistance was to identify the framework needed 

to replace the current aggregate statistical collection and reporting system with one that would enable the Judiciary to conduct more statistical 

analysis. The AOIC’s Judicial Management Information System team 

(JMIS), which led the project’s implementation, sought to better support the effective delivery of adult probation, juvenile probation, and 

pretrial services across the state as a means to improve efficient systems 

and effectiveness. NCSC consultants recommended starting with the 

information already collected and expanding it in a significant way that 

would lead to measurable improvements. 

The final report, which details the way queries would be composed, 

parties involved or with access, and reports the system could generate, 

had four major deliverables, including: 

Definition of system outputs; 

Reporting specification (three tiers); 

Architecture document; and, 

Cost estimates. 

While some estimates from the AOIC’s vendor handling infrastructure 

are still outstanding, the project aims to move from implementation to 

pilot stages over the next 18 months. 
Page 3 

SJI Newsletter Volume 26, No. 5 February 2016 

Strengthening the Operation of Arizona Probate 

Courts Through Statewide Education 

The Arizona Supreme 

Court’s Probate 

Court division was 

the recipient of an 

SJI grant to create 

and deliver online 

video-based probate 

court training programs for nonlicensed fiduciaries, 

attorneys, and superior court investigators (SJI-11-E-088). 

Protection of vulnerable and incapacitated individuals has been a strategic goal of the Arizona judicial department since the early 1990’s. 

Recognizing the need to provide for judicial oversight of probate 

cases, the Arizona judicial branch led a multi-year effort during the 

1990’s to provide training and regulation of “professional fiduciaries” 

- non-family members serving as a guardian, conservator or personal 

representative. Statutory and court rule amendments resulted in Arizona becoming, the first state in the nation to regulate professional 

fiduciaries in 1999. In 2000, the Arizona Supreme Court appointed 

the Fiduciary Advisory Committee. The Committee’s June 2001 final 

report resulted in a number of statutory, court rule, and procedural 

changes, including the development and adoption of Arizona’s first 

statewide Rules of Probate Procedure, effective January 1, 2009. 

On April 30, 2010, the Supreme Court established the Committee on 

Improving Judicial Oversight and Processing of Probate Court Matters 

(“Probate Committee”). The Probate Committee’s responsibilities 

included reviewing and making recommendations regarding effective 

court oversight and monitoring of probate cases. The June 2011 final 

report contained a comprehensive list of recommendations—areas 

addressed included training for judicial officers, court appointed attorneys and guardians ad litems, court investigators and non-licensed 

fiduciaries. The Probate Committee also recommended expansion of 

the Arizona judicial department’s Seniors/Probate Law website to 

include additional information and resources for interested members 

of the public. A number of the Probate Committee’s recommendations resulted in statutory changes, amendments to the Arizona Rules 

of Probate Procedure and adoption of statewide probate forms. 

The final report of the Probate Committee is available on the Court’s 

website. 

In response to these recommendations, the Arizona Supreme Court Administrative Office of the Courts was awarded an SJI grant to begin the 

process of strengthening the operation of Arizona probate courts through 

statewide education. 

The grant provided judicial education on Probate Bench, CourtAppointed Counsel, Guardian Ad Litems, Court-Appointed Investigators, and Non-Licensed Fiduciaries; the development of the Seniors/

Probate Law Website; the Probate Judicial Benchbook; and a two-day 

Probate ADR Conference for judges and attorneys who practice in probate court. All materials and resources generated through this grant are 

available online. 
Page 4 

SJI Board of Directors

Acting Chairman 

Daniel J. Becker 

State Court Administrator 

Utah AOC 

Salt Lake City, UT 

Secretary 

Gayle A. Nachtigal 

Senior Circuit Court Judge 

Washington County Circuit Court 

Hillsboro, OR 

Treasurer 

Hernan D. Vera 

Principal 

Bird Marella P.C. 

Los Angeles, CA 

Chase T. Rogers 

Chief Justice 

Supreme Court of Connecticut 

Hartford, CT 

Jonathan Lippman 

Chief Judge (ret.) 

State of New York 

New York Court of Appeals 

New York, NY 

David V. Brewer 

Justice 

Oregon Supreme Court 

Salem, OR 

Wilfredo Martinez 

County Judge 

9th Judicial Circuit of Florida 

Orlando, FL 

Marsha J. Rabiteau 

Executive Director 

Legal Policy Strategies Group 

Bloomfield, CT 

John B. Nalbandian 

Partner 

Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP 

Cincinnati, OH 

Isabel Framer 

President 

Language Access Consultants, LLC 

Copley, OH

Jonathan D. Mattiello 

Executive Director 

The State Justice Institute is a federallyfunded, non-profit corporation established by 

federal law in 1984 to improve the quality of 

justice in the state courts. 

SJI Newsletter Volume 26, No. 5 February 2016 

SJI Board Appoints Acting Chairman 

The Board of Directors has appointed Vice Chairman Daniel Becker 

to serve as Acting Chairman until June 2016. 

Mr. Becker has served as State Court Administrator at the Administrative Office of the Courts for the State of Utah since 1995. In that capacity, he is responsible to the Utah Supreme Court and Utah Judicial 

Council for the administration of the state court system. From 1984 to 

1995, Mr. Becker worked for the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts serving in the positions of: Deputy Director (1993-

1995); Court Services Administrator (1986-1993); and Assistant to the 

Director (1984-1986). He also held the position of Trial Court Administrator for the Fourteenth Judicial District of North Carolina, and 

Assistant Director of Operations for the Georgia Administrative Office of the Courts. From 2004 to 2005, he served as President of the 

Conference of State Court Administrators and Vice Chair of the Board 

of Directors of the National Center for State Courts. Mr. Becker was 

the recipient of the 2006 Warren E. Burger Award for Excellence in 

Judicial Administration. He was initially appointed to the SJI Board of 

Directors in 2010. 

He holds a B.A. and M.P.A. from Florida Atlantic University, and 

attended the Executive Session for State Court Leaders in the 21st 

Century at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.