E-SJI News

From left to right: Chief Justice (and SJI Chairman) Jim Hannah; new members Chief Justice Chase Rogers; Judge 

Wilfredo Martinez; and Ms. Isabel Framer

On March 25, 2011, SJI Board Chairman Jim Hannah (Chief Justice, Arkansas) administered the oath of 

office to three new Board members: (continued on page 2)

NEW SJI BOARD MEMBERS SWORN IN

Inside

King County, WA Completes

Review of Caseflow 

Management Improvements 2

March 2011 Vol. 21, No. 6

Securing Courthouses Through 

Assessment and Best Practices 3, 4 

New Board Members 

Sworn In 2

New Mexico Finalizes 

Family Law Manual 3 
Hon. Chase T. Rogers – Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Connecticut.

Hon. Wilfredo Martinez – County Judge, 9th Judicial Circuit of Florida (Orlando) 

Isabel Framer – President of Language Access Consultants, LLC, based in Copley, Ohio.

More information about these new members is available on the SJI website. By law, SJI is supervised by a 

Board of Directors consisting of 11 members appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the 

Senate. Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 10703, the President appoints 6 judges and 1 state court administrator from a 

list of candidates submitted by the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ). In addition, the President also 

appoints 4 public member positions, no more than 2 of whom can be from the same political party.

KING COUNTY, WASHINGTON COMPLETES REVIEW OF 

CASEFLOW MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENTS

The King County Superior Court, seated in Seattle, Washington, recently issued their final report on the

multi-year implementation of a new criminal caseflow management system. Through a SJI Technical 

Assistance grant (SJI-09-T-068), the Court was able to acquire expertise from the Justice Management 

Institute (JMI) to develop an action plan for implementing recommendations designed to improve felony 

caseflow.

In 2008, JMI performed the original evaluation of the Court’s caseflow data and existing system for criminal 

case disposition. JMI issued a report highlighting both assets within the existing process and areas for 

improvement or further review. This report included a series of recommendations for the Court to 

implement; however, with diminishing resources and staff, the Court required additional assistance to 

translate the technical recommendations into an action-based implementation plan. 

The final report, in addition to providing benchmarks for implementation, also included six new 

recommendations which ranged from modest system re-engineering to collaborative development of preadjudication operations under an interdisciplinary workgroup. The Court has made in achieving its goals to 

improve the felony case processing system, engaging criminal justice partners and resources in caseflow 

management, and organizing data by segment of criminal caseloads to assist with developing performance 

measurement of caseflow interventions.

Page 2 E-SJI News – Vol. 21, No. 6
NEW MEXICO FINALIZES FAMILY LAW MANUAL

The 3rd Judicial District Court in Las Cruces, New Mexico recently completed a Family Law Manual

subtitled, Topics in Family Law for the New Mexico Judiciary. This manual was adapted from the 

Washington State Family Law Benchbook, with support from SJI through a Curriculum Adaptation and 

Training (CAT) grant (SJI-09-E-074), and technical assistance provided by the University of New Mexico’s 

Institute of Public Law (IPL). 

The Court developed its manual as a collection of materials designed to inform the bench of state-specific 

statutes, case law, processes, and references in the handling of family law matters. Also featured are 

standard legal definitions of and protocols for marriage, divorce, community property, guardianship, 

adoption, and child support proceedings. 

Other topic areas were in direct response to the economic downturn and/or advancements in alternative 

dispute resolution. These included: 1) divorce taxation; 2) intersection between bankruptcy and business 

valuation; 3) dividing military retired pay; 4) family relocation (with/without children); and 5) collaborative 

divorce. With appendices, the manual totals more than 330 pages, but is conveniently organized by section 

including prescriptive and editorial content provided by experts within each topic area. The appendices also 

contain draft parenting plans for pro se litigants, a property analysis form, a series of worksheets parties can 

use when estimating assets and liabilities, and forms for judges to use relevant to visitation and parenting 

time. IPL provided expertise and consultation throughout development, as well as assembly of, the 

document.

Future plans include posting/enhancing additional materials on procedure, domestic partnership, the Uniform 

Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA), and parentage by the end of FY 2011 to incorporate anticipated 

changes to these laws in the current legislative session. A PDF of the final document is available on the New 

Mexico Judicial Education Center website. 

SECURING COURT FACILITIES THROUGH ASSESSMENT

AND BEST PRACTICES

During FY 2010, SJI supported two separate court security assessments though Technical Assistant grants, 

both of which were conducted by the National Center for State Courts (NCSC). The first of these extensive 

assessments was performed in the district and county courthouses for the 4th Judicial District Court in 

Omaha, Nebraska (SJI-10-T-012). (continued on page 4)

Page 3 E-SJI News – Vol. 21, No. 6
The second assessment was for three courthouses (including the Supreme, 

District, and County court facilities) in Honolulu, Hawaii for the State of 

Hawaii Judiciary (SJI-10-T-156). 

Operating a courthouse today is by its very nature a risky business. 

Courthouses are visited by a large volume of disgruntled and even lawbreaking citizens. Moreover, courthouses can be seen as an important 

symbolic target for those who wish to cause harm. Courts must contend 

with a growing number of security incidents and threats. Shrinking budgets 

make it that much more challenging for the state courts to provide a 

reasonable level of safety and protection to those who work in, and use 

courthouses. An effective approach courts can take to minimize risks is to 

conduct a thorough security assessment of its facilities. 

Assessments include thorough, comprehensive on-site review of 

courthouses – inside and out. The NCSC assessment team reviews security 

from a perspective of governance (how security decisions are made and 

implemented), facilities (brick and mortar), technology (closed circuit 

television, duress and intrusion alarms, magnetometers, x-ray machines, 

etc.) and staffing (deputy sheriffs, court security offices, bailiffs, etc.). 

NCSC is also able to conduct personal safety training for judges and court 

staff. 

For the two SJI-funded projects, NCSC produced a detailed report for the 

grantees containing information specific to each courthouse assessed. The 

assessment report contains observations describing the current state of 

security, detailing physical and procedural information about inherent risks 

and vulnerabilities. 

In addition to specific observations and tailored recommendations for the 

Omaha and Honolulu courthouses, the assessments also included

recommendations for implementing best practices in light of funding 

constraints. Recognizing that improving security can be costly, NCSC 

developed steps, to be completed in phases, so that courts can adopt 

incremental improvements at their discretion. Implementation of these 

recommendations provides a path to improvement that courts achieve over 

time with respect to budget limitations. 

NCSC has performed security assessments in approximately 225 

courthouses across the United States, and is a leading expert on courthouse 

security best practices. More information about courthouse security and 

emergency preparedness can be found on NCSC’s Emergency Planning & 

Preparedness 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

Chase T. Rogers

Chief Justice

Supreme Court of Connecticut

Hartford, CT

Wilfredo Martinez

County Judge

9th Judicial Circuit of Florida

Orlando, FL

Marsha J. Rabiteau

Policy Consultant

Rabiteau Consulting

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 

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.

Page 4 E-SJI News – Vol. 21, No. 6