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December 2009 Vol. 20, No. 3 

E-SJI News    

FY 2010 APPROPRIATION WILL ENABLE SJI 

TO CONTINUE FOCUSING ON NATIONAL COURT ISSUES 

On December 16, 2009, the President signed into law the FY 2010 Consolidated Appropriations Act (H.R. 

3288), which provided $5,131,000 for SJI. This is an increase of $1,031,000 over FY 2009, and marks the third 

consecutive year that SJI has received an increased budget from Congress. The Act also increased the available 

funding for SJI’s Strategic Initiatives Grants program to $850,000. This will allow SJI to continue working on 

critical issues facing the state courts. In addition, SJI received over $1 million in grant applications for the 1st

quarter of FY 2010. Therefore, this funding will enable SJI to address this increased demand for grant funding. 

SJI greatly appreciates the continued support from both the President and Congress. This funding is critical to 

supporting worthwhile projects that improve the administration of justice in the state courts. 

BOARD AWARDS GRANTS FOR THE 1st QUARTER 

The SJI Board of Directors met on December 11, 2009, to award grants for the 1st quarter of FY 2010. Twenty 

(20) new grants were awarded, totaling $967,543. Three (3) Project Grants were awarded, including: support to 

the National Association for Court Management (NACM) for a national curriculum development project to 

provide education for court managers and leadership judges; funding for the National Center for State Courts 

(NCSC) to assist the state courts with the use of videoconferencing technology; (continued on page 2) 

U.S. Marshals/SJI Partner Grant Provides 

Training to Law Enforcement & the Courts 2, 3

Board Awards Grants for the 1st

Quarter 1, 2

Inside

Guidance on Supplantation of State 

& Local Funds 3
and, a grant awarded to the Wisconsin Director of State Courts Office for an evidenced-based sentencing 

project to enhance public safety, hold offenders accountable, and reduce court and correctional costs. 

Ten (10) Technical Assistance (TA) Projects were awarded, including: an assessment of alternative dispute 

resolution services in New Mexico; an organizational review of the Georgia Administrative Office of the 

Courts; a rural justice re-engineering project in Minnesota; support to the Vermont Supreme Court for 

implementation of an action plan for the court interpreter program; a review of the administrative infrastructure 

of the South Dakota Unified Judicial System; support to the Kentucky AOC to develop a formula for 

reimbursement of Title IV-D child support services; and a courthouse security assessment for the 4th Judicial 

District in Nebraska. Seven (7) Curriculum Adaptation & Training (CAT) Grants were awarded, including: 

faculty training and certification for the Arizona AOC; judicial training for the Florida Office of the State 

Courts Administrator; updating an appellate judges course for the National Judicial College (NJC); and support 

for training programs provided by the National Association of State Judicial Educators (NASJE). 

U.S. MARSHALS SERVICE/SJI PARTNER GRANT PROVIDES 

TRAINING TO LAW ENFORCEMENT AND THE COURTS 

The USMS/SJI Partner Grant directly supports a component of the USMS Judicial Security Fellows (JSF) 

program that includes joint training with court administrators at the National Center for State Courts (NCSC). 

This training includes coordination of public and media relations in high visibility trials, coordinated 

approaches to policy and procedures, and consolidated training for court staff in security awareness and 

response. Furthermore, the NCSC assists the JSF and his/her court counterpart in developing close working 

relationships for analyzing security needs and formulating action plans to improve security in the state or 

location jurisdiction they represent. The JSFs also achieve an understanding of court security needs from a state 

court perspective. 

In November 2009, NCSC conducted its third training on court security for a new class of JSFs and their state 

court counterparts. The trainees noted the depth and wide-reaching capacity of NCSC’s court security resources 

and educational courses. The focus on interactivity throughout the program was praised as having the 

additional effect of showing the trainees real-life applications of their training, as they received it. (continued on 

page 3) 

Page 2 E-SJI News – Vol. 20, No. 3 
Board of Directors

Chairman

Robert A. Miller 

Chief Justice (Ret.) 

Supreme Court of South Dakota 

Pierre, SD 

Vice Chairman

Joseph F. Baca 

Chief Justice (Ret.) 

New Mexico Supreme Court 

Santa Fe, NM 

Secretary

Sandra A. O’Connor 

States Attorney of Baltimore 

County (Ret.) 

Towson, MD 

Executive Committee Member

Keith McNamara, Esq. 

McNamara & McNamara 

Columbus, OH 

Terrence B. Adamson, Esq. 

Executive Vice-President 

The National Geographic Society 

Robert N. Baldwin 

Executive Vice President and 

General Counsel 

National Center for State Courts 

Sophia H. Hall 

Administrative Presiding Judge 

Circuit Court of Cook County 

Chicago, IL 

Tommy Jewell 

Presiding Children’s Court Judge 

(Ret.) 

Second Judicial District Court 

Albuquerque, NM 

Arthur A. McGiverin 

Chief Justice (Ret.) 

Supreme Court of Iowa 

Des Moines, IA 

Janice Munsterman 

Executive Director 

Jonathan Mattiello 

Deputy Director 

The State Justice Institute is a 

private, 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. 

The one aspect of the course that proved especially advantageous was the 

teambuilding that occurred between the JSF and his/her court staff 

counterpart. This teambuilding was critical given that the trainees entered the 

program with little to no understanding of each other’s roles and organizations 

within the framework of court and judicial security in their jurisdictions. A 

common theme that emerged from the training is that court security is a shared 

responsibility among law enforcement and court staff. The next training is 

scheduled for the spring of 2010. 

GUIDANCE ON SUPPLANTATION 

OF STATE AND LOCAL FUNDS 

The new SJI Grant Guideline for FY 2010 provides guidance on the 

justification of personnel compensation for state courts and other 

governmental agencies. Specifically, Section IV. A.4(a) of the Grant 

Guideline (describing the Budget Narrative) states: “No grant funds or cash 

match may be used to pay the salary and related costs for a current employee 

or new employee of a court or other unit of government because such funds 

would constitute a supplantation of state or local funds in violation of 42 

U.S.C.10706, Sec.(d)(1); this includes new employees hired specifically for 

the project. The salary and any related costs for a current or new employee of 

a court or other unit of government may only be accepted as in-kind match.” 

In addition, Section IV.A.4(k) of the Grant Guideline (describing Indirect 

Costs) states: “Indirect costs are only applicable to organizations that are not 

state courts or governmental agencies.” Recently, SJI has received grant 

applications where either the state court or another governmental entity was 

applying an indirect cost rate to all grants, regardless of source. This practice 

is being employed with more regularity because of the reduced budgets in 

many states and jurisdictions. Regardless, SJI is not permitted to allow these 

indirect costs per 42 U.S.C. 10706, Sec.207(d)(1), and will not accept 

applications from state courts and other governmental agencies that include 

them. 

If there are questions about the Grant Guideline, potential grant applicants are 

strongly encouraged to contact SJI prior to submitting applications. 

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT 

3⁄4 Next grant and scholarship application deadline: February 1, 2010 

(2nd Quarter, FY 2010). 

Page 3 E-SJI News – Vol. 20, No. 3