E-SJI News

SJI received 11 grant applications for the 2nd quarter of FY 2011, requesting a total of $1,258,037. The Board 

will meet on April 22, 2011, to make decisions on grant awards for the 2nd quarter. The results of this Board 

meeting will be available the following week. As with the 1st quarter of FY 2011, approved grant applications 

will not be awarded until SJI has its final appropriation from Congress. 

SJI continues to experience an increase in applications, especially Technical Assistance (TA) and Curriculum 

Adaptation and Training (CAT) grant applications. To assist applicants in preparing and submitting thorough 

applications, SJI staff are available to answer questions about the grant program, and troubleshoot any issues the 

applicant may be experiencing in drafting the grant application. Potential applicants are encouraged to contact 

SJI to describe their ideas for a project prior to submitting a formal application. SJI Grant funding remains 

available on a first-come, first-served, basis for grant applications that merit funding. Deadlines for the 

remainder of FY 2011 are as follows: 3rd quarter – May 1, 2011; and 4th quarter – August 1, 2011.

SJI OFFICE RELOCATION

SJI relocated to Reston, Virginia (located outside of Washington, D.C.) in February. Please note the change in

mailing address information:

State Justice Institute

11951 Freedom Drive

Suite 1020

Reston, VA 20190

General phone, fax, and e-mail addresses remain the same, as does the website www.sji.gov. 

2ND QUARTER GRANT APPLICATIONS FOR FY 2011

Inside

Vermont Judiciary Completes 3rd Phase 

of Court Interpreter Implementation 

Project 2, 3

February 2011 Vol. 21, No. 5

Florida Judicial Branch Releases 

Governance Study 3, 4 President’s Budget Provides Strong 

Support for SJI 2
PRESIDENT’S BUDGET PROVIDES STRONG SUPPORT FOR SJI

The recently released FY 2012 President’s Budget includes $5,131,000 for SJI. SJI greatly appreciates the 

continued support, especially from the Office of Management and Budget who recommended to the President 

that SJI be included in his budget proposal for FY 2012. The funding requested will enable SJI to continue 

identifying issues that impact all courts, fostering innovative solutions, and sharing information on successful 

approaches nationwide. An excerpted version of the President’s Budget Appendix that includes the SJI request 

is now available on the SJI website.

VERMONT JUDICIARY COMPLETES THIRD PHASE OF COURT 

INTERPRETER IMPLEMENTATION PROJECT

Through continued support from SJI, the Vermont Supreme Court, Office of the Court Administrator, recently 

completed the implementation phase (SJI-10-T-008) of their multi-year court interpreter project. In the 

previous two phases, the Vermont Judiciary worked with Vermont Legal Aid, Inc., to develop and strengthen an 

action plan for court foreign-language interpreter services (SJI-08-T-077 and SJI-07-E-200). 

The original project was conceived in 2004 after the Subcommittee on Interpreters of the Vermont Supreme 

Court’s Committee on Fairness and Equal Access to Justice issued a report that recommended the development 

of policy and procedures to ensure that individuals with limited-English proficiency (LEP) have access to 

interpreters. continued on page 3

Page 2 E-SJI News – Vol. 21, No. 5
Overall, the project yielded the following important deliverables for the Judiciary and its stakeholders:

 Amendment of the Vermont Rules of Evidence, Criminal Procedure, Probate Procedure, and Statutes to 

bring the delivery of court interpreter services to LEP populations in compliance with federal laws;

 Creation and maintenance of a statewide interpreter resource list on the Judiciary website;

 A first-ever written test and oral proficiency interview of court interpreters given annually; 

 Delivery of statewide training, eligible for continuing legal education (CLE) credit, to court interpreters 

on legal procedures, terminology, and the criminal justice system; 

 Development of a training curriculum for staff and judges on the Court Interpreter Manual to be 

delivered court-by-court and at the next session of the Judicial College in late 2011; and

 The ongoing engagement of court interpreters, judges, administrators, attorneys, and constituent 

associations, including the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Project (VRRP) and Association of Africans 

Living in Vermont (AALV), on the design of effective and efficient court interpreter services that 

promote access to justice and fairness.

Vermont will continue to refine the products created as a result of this grant, while offering subsequent training 

and court interpreter testing sessions. A review of the potential use of remote interpreters, and the financial 

support of court interpreter services with funding authorities, are considered next steps as part of the action 

plan. The final report for this project is available on the Vermont Judiciary’s website.

FLORIDA JUDICIAL BRANCH RELEASES GOVERNANCE STUDY

With grant funding from SJI (SJI-09-T-131), the Florida Judicial Branch released an in-depth study of 

governance structure, processes, and practices. The review includes a comparative analysis of 11 state court 

systems. 

This project builds on work previously completed under the Long-Range Strategic Plan for the Florida Judicial 

Branch (SJI-08-T-002), which identified a re-examination of the governance structure as a critical necessity 

because of the shift from a county-funded to state-funded court system under a recently revised law. continued on 

page 4 

Page 3 E-SJI News – Vol. 21, No. 5
The Strategic Planning Unit (SPU) of the Office of the State Courts 

Administrator (OSCA) was instrumental in organizing a study group 

internally to facilitate stakeholder data collection and identifying components 

of the study that Florida would consider modeling after another state, or 

modifying as it explores future changes to its governance structure.

SPU identified Arizona, California, Minnesota, and Utah as having both 

governance structures and processes of particular interest in the measurement 

of efficiency. The 4 states shared 6 elements indentified in the report that 

SPU attributed to their ability to effectively administer court operations and 

ensure access to justice. 

Recommendations in the report generated 7 areas for the court to examine as it 

moves forward; these included: 1) the role and responsibilities of the Supreme 

court and the role, responsibilities, term and selection of chief justice and chief 

judges; 2) rule-making and the current committee system; 3) the authorization 

of conferences; 4) legislative advocacy on behalf of the judicial branch; 5) the 

role of the OSCA; and 6) identifying emergent policy issues. These topics 

were identified through a unique 3-part analysis of stakeholders that included

interviews with justices, judges, administrators, and staff, communication 

survey results, and responses from the bar and business community. 

The report was presented to the Florida Judicial Branch Governance Study 

Group for their consideration. Since the release of the report, the Group has 

used the recommendations generated to guide continued strategic planning,

and presented results to the Florida Supreme Court earlier this month. A 

copy of the Governance Study Group’s report and consultants report (as an 

appendix) are available on the Florida Judicial Branch’s website.

Board of Directors

Chairman

James R. Hannah

Chief Justice

Supreme Court of Arkansas

Little Rock, AR

Vice Chairman

Daniel J. Becker

State Court Administrator

Utah AOC

Salt Lake City, UT

Secretary

Gayle A. Nachtigal

Judge

Washington County Circuit Court

Hillsboro, OR

Treasurer

Hernan D. Vera

President & CEO

Public Counsel

Los Angeles, CA

Robert A. Miller

Chief Justice (Ret.)

Supreme Court of South Dakota

Pierre, SD

John B. Nalbandian

Partner

Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP

Cincinnati, OH

Marsha J. Rabiteau

Policy Consultant

Rabiteau Consulting

Bloomfield, CT

Jonathan D. Mattiello

Executive Director

The State Justice Institute is a 

federally-funded, non-profit 

corporation established by federal 

law in 1984 to improve the quality 

of justice in state courts, and foster 

innovative, efficient solutions to 

common issues faced by all courts. 

SJI is governed by a Board of 

Directors appointed by the 

President and confirmed by the 

Senate.

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