SJI Newsletter

August 2019 | Volume 29, No. 11

Conservator Accountability Project

Releases Implementation Guide

The Conservator Accountability Project (CAP) began in 2015, with two key goals to help courts 

modernize their conservatorship process, specifically through the use of technology and analytics.

Supported by an SJI Grant, the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), working with CAP, has 

released a new guide titled, Conservatorship Accountability Project: Modernizing Conservatorship 

Processes and Improving the Protection of Assets.

Minnesota, which served as the model for the guide, has been a unified court system since the late 

1980's and was able to secure outside resources and broad legislative support for the 

implementation of MyMnConservator (MMC) – a mandatory conservatorship accounting software, 

and the Conservator Account Auditing Program (CAAP), also used statewide.

During the pilot phase of CAP, the NCSC, working directly with several states, including New 

Mexico, Iowa, Indiana, Texas, and Clark County, Nevada, found that most states did not have 

access to the resources needed to implement broad-scale changes under the present conditions. 

Data collection efforts showed that most state courts still have a difficult time documenting the 

number of active conservatorship cases. Rather than create a guide that only a few courts could 

implement, this guide informs readers of the efforts and advancements under way.
NACM Wraps a Successful Annual

Meeting - Makes Content Available Online

The National Association for Court Management (NACM) is dedicated to educating court professionals, 

providing community, sharing information, and advocating on important court and justice system topics.

NACM’s Annual Meeting recently concluded with the theme, Courts & Society: Creating Public Trust 

Through Engagement & Innovation. The meeting showcased a number of exceptional educational 

programs while offering networking opportunities for our national and international guests.

Each plenary and select programs were live-streamed, recorded, and can now be accessed in the NACM 

Video Gallery. Highlights of each session can be found here. NACM encourages court professionals to 

watch these videos and also share this great resource with colleagues.

The NACM 2020 Midyear Meeting will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the Westin Charlotte from 

February 9-11, 2020. Registration has not yet opened, so keep an eye on the NACM Conference website.

Court Statistics Project Publishes

2019 State Court Caseload Digest

The Court Statistics Project (CSP), a joint project between the Conference of State Court Administrators 

(COSCA) and the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), has published the 2019 edition of State Court 

Caseload Digest, which uses 2017 data to update caseload totals.

National, civil, domestic relations, criminal, juvenile, traffic, and appellate caseloads are covered. On the 

national level, after years of increasing caseloads reported by state trial courts in the previous decade, the 

most recent 10-year period shows a slow but steady decline since 2008. Total trial court caseloads in 2017 

were roughly the same as those reported in 1993.
Court Technology Conference

Preregistration Closes August 31

Only days remain to preregister for the 2019 Court Technology Conference, being held in New 

Orleans, Louisiana, September 10-12, 2019.

In addition to hundreds of opportunities to connect with colleagues, vendors, and industry experts,

the conference will feature a Solution Showcase provided by vendors. The online schedule of 

plenaries and workshop presentations is now available.

Back by popular demand, NCSC’s Court Consulting Services and Technology Divisions will provide 

their free consulting service, “The Doctor Is In,” at CTC2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. From 

September 10–12, the NCSC will provide up to an hour and a half of consultation with one of their 

experienced court management consultants. Consultants can meet to discuss technology or court 

administration issues that a court may be facing. If you would like to schedule a one-on-one 

discussion with NCSC staff, please contact Kent Kelly at kkelly@ncsc.org prior to the event.

Several consultants and managers will be in attendance. Each interested party will be asked to 

provide a specific court topic that they wish to discuss. Please note that sessions and availability are 

limited. Sessions can be scheduled for Tuesday, September 10 and Wednesday, September 11 

from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. or Thursday, September 12 from 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
SJI Board of Directors

Chair

John D. Minton, Jr.

Chief Justice

Supreme Court of Kentucky

Frankfort, KY

Vice Chair

Daniel J. Becker

State Court Administrator (ret.)

Utah AOC

Salt Lake City, UT

Secretary

Gayle A. Nachtigal

Senior Circuit Court Judge

Washington County Circuit Court

Hillsboro, OR

Treasurer

John B. Nalbandian

Partner

Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP

Cincinnati, OH

Jonathan Lippman

Chief Judge of New York (ret.)

of Counsel Latham

Watkins, LLP

New York, NY

Chase T. Rogers

Chief Justice (ret.)

Supreme Court of Connecticut

Hartford, CT

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

Center for Human Trafficking Court 

Solutions Bloomfield, CT

Hernan D. Vera

Principal

Bird Marella P.C.

Los Angeles, CA

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 the state courts.

Products and Resources

Since 2011, SJI has designated the library at the National Center for State Courts as

the official repository of published work related to SJI-supported grant projects. You

can search the ecollection online by using the term, State Justice Institute.

Share the News

SJI uses Facebook and Twitter to promote the work of its grantees and also shares 

information of interest to the entire state court community. If your organizations work

complements ours, let us know and we will share.