March 2008 Vol. 18, No. 6

What’s Inside

SJI Rolls Out the New SJI.GOV Website 2 Project Budgets and the 5 Percent Rule 2 Allegheny County 3

Reminders 4 Special Announcement 4 Contact the staff 4

SJI’s new Strategic Initiatives Grants (SIG) program is

enabling SJI to address national court issues as they

occur, and develop solutions to those problems. For

example, recent immigration growth is having a significant impact on state and local courts. Courts along the

Southwest Border and other areas of the United States

with large immigrant populations are contending with

issues such as how to provide culturally appropriate

services; increase in gang-crime cases involving immigrants; and the impact of federal and state immigration

policies on court operations. For FY 2008, SJI is using

the SIG program to address immigration issues in the

courts at a national impact level. 

On March 27-28, 2008, SJI kicked off the SIG program

by holding a roundtable discussion consisting of court

administrators (including a state court administrator),

state court judges, the National Center for State Courts

(NCSC), and representatives from the Department of

Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance and Board of

Immigration Appeals, to discuss the issues state courts

are facing as a direct result of immigration. The group

identified many issues, including a large increase in the

need for court interpreters, concerns for equal access to

justice for all, and determining how state and federal

laws impact both legal and illegal immigrants. For

example, the group discussed at length how state and

local sentencing practices can cause an immigrant to be

placed in a deportable status under federal law. These

types of dilemmas clearly demonstrate the need for

state court judges and court personnel to be educated

on federal immigration laws.

The meeting started with a brief outline on the relationship between state and federal immigration laws; then

NCSC gave the results of a recent survey among judges

which identified the key issues they are facing.

Afterwards, the roundtable participants held discussions on how immigration is impacting their jurisdictions, and reported on some of the solutions that could

address these problems. The meeting concluded with

the group identifying key methods for SJI to provide

assistance through the SIG program. A report on the

group’s activities, including their key recommendations, will be presented to the Board of Directors for

their final decisions during the April 18, 2008, Board

meeting. Once the Board decides on the next steps, SJI

will begin rapidly implementing the programs and

projects chosen. 

SJI is very excited about this new effort, and will provide updates in future editions of the E-SJI News and

other forums. 

STRATEGIC INITIATIVES GRANTS:

IMPACT OF IMMIGRATION ON THE STATE COURTS

E-SJI News
Page 2 E-SJI News - Vol. 18, No. 6

PROJECT BUDGETS AND THE 5 PERCENT RULE

SJI ROLLS OUT THE NEW SJI.GOV WEBSITE

On March 19, 2008, the General Services Administration (GSA) approved SJI’s application for a .gov domain

name for the SJI website. The new domain name is part of SJI’s ongoing efforts to better communicate its federally-funded mission. The new website can be found at: www.sji.gov. Repeat users of SJI’s website are encouraged to bookmark this new URL. The www.statejustice.org website is still owned by SJI; however, any user who

visits that website will automatically be redirected to www.sji.gov.

The sji.gov website contains the same information as before, including the latest news, information on grants,

and important forms for both grant applicants and current grantees. SJI appreciates the positive feedback it has

received so far on its website, and looks forward to adding more useful content.

In addition to the website, all SJI staff email addresses have also changed to the .gov domain name. SJI has set

up a forwarding function from the old email addresses, so emails to the .org email addresses will automatically

be forwarded to the new .gov email address. A complete list of the new emails can be found on page 4 of this

month’s E-SJI News.

The project budgets submitted with grant applications are examined closely during the staff review and Board

approval processes. For applicants who are awarded SJI grants, this means the quarterly Financial Status Reports

(SJI Form F) must reflect both the approved SJI and cash match budgets. SJI recently revised the Form F to

include columns for both SJI and cash match budgets, and it is now available on the SJI website:

http://sji.gov/forms.php. Current grantees are encouraged to use this revised Form F for future reporting. 

Project budgets are subject to the “5 Percent Rule,” which means that grantees can disburse between approved

SJI budget line items up to 5 percent of the total amount awarded. For example, a total of $10,000 may be moved

from one line item to another without requesting a budget adjustment for a grant with a SJI budget of $200,000.

However, the grantee may not disburse funds in a line item category that was not approved in the original SJI

budget. Using the $200,000 example, if the original SJI budget did not have any funds for the purchase of equipment, the grantee may not move $5,000 into the equipment line; even though it is within the 5 percent threshold.

In this case, a budget adjustment (including a detailed explanation for why these changes are needed) must be

requested in writing to SJI prior to making any budget modifications. However, the grantee is permitted to move

$5,000 from an approved line item or cumulatively into several line item categories, should the project activities

require these adjustments. 

Grantees are also strongly encouraged to monitor line item disbursements for their cash match budgets. It is

important that grantees make every attempt to disburse cash match funds at the same rate as SJI funds. Low

“burn” rates for cash match funds may force SJI to hold reimbursement requests until there is parity in cash match

disbursements, unless the grantee has provided sufficient justification for the discrepancy in disbursement rates. 

If grantees have questions about project budgets, they should contact SJI staff to discuss. 
In FY 2006, with support from SJI, the Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Court of Common Pleas contracted

with the Pretrial Justice Institute (PJI) to address severe problems in the pretrial services program (SJI-06-N129). PJI provided on-going technical assistance over a period of one year, working with court staff to completely overhaul the program. The changes included:

Expanding the target population of defendants investigated by the pretrial program;

Moving from self-administered questionnaires to face-to-face interviews with defendants to obtain the 

information used by the court in pretrial release decision-making;

Providing comprehensive training in interviewing techniques;

Making verification by references obtained from the defendant the standard practice rather than the 

rare event;

Expanding the options available to the court by introducing supervised release alternatives; and

Transforming from manual files to a fully automated information system.

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Page 3 E-SJI News - Vol. 18, No. 6

ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA OVERHAULS 

PRETRIAL SERVICES PROGRAM

PJI also conducted a validation study of the risk assessment instrument the program had been using. Based on

the results of that study, PJI recommended major changes in the ways risks were being assessed and in the recommendations being made to the court. 

On September 2, 2007, after a year of planning, the pretrial program implemented these changes. In just the first

month of operation under these new procedures, there was a 30 percent reduction in the number of defendants

admitted into jail following their preliminary arraignment. The changes made to the program, and their impact

on the entire system, were so substantial that they generated a great deal of controversy. Several system officials,

including local law enforcement and district attorneys, were concerned that the program was recommending

release in inappropriate cases. There were also significant concerns voiced by the bail bonding industry, both

locally and nationally. To address these concerns (which were being aired in several local media outlets), in

January 2008, the Presiding Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, along with the Presiding Judge of the Criminal

Division, the District Attorney, and the Chief of Police of Pittsburgh, held a news conference to announce their

commitment to the changes that were made in the pretrial release program. Since that time, the controversies

have subsided, and the transformation appears to have been a success. 
Page 4 E-SJI News - Vol. 18, No. 6

SJI News is published by the State Justice Institute

1650 King Street, Suite 600, Alexandria, VA 22314 

(703) 684-6100 Fax: (703) 684-7618 Web site address: http://www.sji.gov

Editors

Janice Munsterman

Jonathan Mattiello

Design/Layout

Candice Jackson

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

Carlos R. Garza, Esq.

Administrative Judge (Ret.)

Round Rock, TX

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

Van Debrick

Chief Financial Officer

The State Justice Institute is a private, nonprofit corporation established by Congress

in 1984 to provide support for projects to

improve the quality of justice in State

courts. SJI is governed by a Board of

Directors appointed by the President and

confirmed by the Senate.

CONTACT THE STAFF

Are you on the E-SJI News e-list? Would you like to be? If so, please send your name and email

address to esjinews@sji.gov to start receiving the E-SJI Newsletter. 

Janice Munsterman, Executive Director

janice.munsterman@sji.gov, Ext. 202

Jonathan Mattiello, Deputy Director

jonathan.mattiello@sji.gov, Ext. 210

Van Debrick, Chief Financial Officer

van.debrick@sji.gov, Ext. 203

LaVerne Durham, Program Manager

laverne.durham@sji.gov, Ext. 204

Candice Jackson, Office Manager

candice.jackson@sji.gov, Ext. 200

Ryan Williams, Finance Manager

ryan.williams@sji.gov, Ext. 206

NEXT GRANT & SCHOLARSHIP

APPLICATION DEADLINE

Applications for all grants and scholarships must be received by SJI on

May 1, 2008, to be considered for the third quarter of FY 2008. Please be

advised this is not a mail date, but the date the application must be physically

received by SJI. Notification of awards for scholarships will be completed by

early June. New grant awards should be made by the end of the month,

depending on the date of the Board of Director’s meeting. The date of that

meeting will be placed on the SJI website so that you will know the earliest

start date possible for approved projects. 

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

The Department of Justice/Bureau of Justice Assistance report: Challenges and

Solutions to Implementing Problem-Solving Courts from the Traditional Court

Perspective, is now available on the SJI website under “Select Grant Reports.”