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October 2009 Vol

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. 20, No. 1 

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SJI CONTINUES FOCUS ON IMMIGRATION ISSUES 

IN THE STATE COURTS

In FY 2009, SJI awarded a Strategic Initiative Grant to the Center for Public Policy Studies (CPPS) for Phase II 

of the Immigration and the State Courts: Meeting the Challenge project. During Phase I of the project, CPPS 

worked with Maricopa County, Arizona, two counties in western Minnesota, and Miami-Dade County, Florida, 

to document and assist those jurisdictions with immigration issues impacting their state courts. Phase I also 

included the completion of a Bench Guide for state court judges on the immigration consequences of state 

criminal actions. 

Phase II of the project has five major components: 

1. Facilitate improvement work in additional pilot learning sites.

2. Prepare a Bench Guide on immigration issues in juvenile and family cases. 

3. Complete and test a model measurement system.

4. Develop training courses for judges and court personnel.

5. Facilitate the ongoing federal/state/local dialogue on immigration issues in the state courts.

CPPS is currently working with several counties in the Detroit, Michigan, metropolitan area and will begin 

work in additional pilot learning sites within the next month. CPPS is also developing a bench guide on 

immigration issues in juvenile and family cases, as family and juvenile issues have consistently been identified 

as priorities in all the learning sites. Training will be developed for judges and court personnel that will 

describe the issues involving immigrants in state courts, outline the impacts of those issues on the state courts, 

and highlight the differences between federal and state laws. Finally, CPPS is working to develop a website and 

resource library featuring all the material developed in the project and providing timely information on 

immigration issues in the state courts. 

USMS & SJI Continue 

Working to Improve Judicial 

and Court Security 2, 3 

New Bench Guide on 

Immigration Issues Available 

for State Court Judges 2

Inside

Status of FY 2010 

Appropriations 4

SJI Issues Guidance on 

Supplantation of State 

and Local Funds 3

FY 2010 Grant 

Guideline Now 

Available 4
NEW BENCH GUIDE ON IMMIGRATION ISSUES 

AVAILABLE FOR STATE COURT JUDGES 

As part of its efforts through SJI’s Strategic Initiatives Grants program, the Center for Public Policy Studies has 

finalized a Bench Guide for state trial court judges on immigration issues. The Bench Guide is intended to help 

judges identify circumstances before them in which a state criminal conviction or sentence may have collateral 

immigration consequences. It is important that judges are aware of these issues when taking a guilty plea or 

determining an appropriate sentence. 

The Bench Guide is in PDF format, and is available on the SJI website: 

http://www.sji.gov/PDF/Criminal_Bench_Guide_on_Immigration_Consequences.pdf

The Guide is designed to provide quick access electronically from the bench during a trial or plea hearing. It is 

not meant to be an in-depth treatise on immigration law. Its purpose is to help judges spot issues, not provide 

definitive answers on immigration rights. Words or phrases in red type are clickable links to other sections of 

the guide. Web links to the Internet for statutes are in blue type and require internet access. To start, Tables 1 

and 2 provide the primary links. Table 1 lists criminal actions with immigration consequences, and Table 2 lists 

the major categories of legal immigration status. The links in red in those two tables take the user to the 

detailed discussions of each topic. Each page of the Bench Guide has clickable links at the bottom of the page 

that return the user back to Table 1 and Table 2. 

U.S. MARSHALS SERVICE & SJI CONTINUE WORKING 

TO IMPROVE JUDICIAL & COURT SECURITY 

The U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) and SJI recently finalized a third year Partner Grant to support a component 

of the USMS Judicial Security Fellowship Program. This program provides an opportunity for state and local 

law enforcement officers charged with court security to train with the USMS. This includes training on high 

level executive protection and court security operations. During the program, the Judicial Security Fellow (JSF) 

is exposed to all aspects of USMS judicial and court security, and travels to sites of ongoing high-threat trials 

and protective details. (continued on page 3) 

Page 2 E-SJI News – Vol. 20, No. 1 
JSFs are full-time sworn officers of a duly constituted law enforcement agency, whose responsibility includes 

judicial and court security in the jurisdiction of the JSF. Furthermore, the JSF is at the rank of lieutenant or 

above, and has at least five years court security experience. 

The USMS/SJI Partner Grant will directly support a component of 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 will 

also achieve an understanding of court security needs from a state court perspective. 

Past sessions of this program have proved to be very valuable to both the court counterparts and the JSF’s. The 

evaluations of these programs were very positive, and the participants came away from the training with a better 

sense of each other’s roles, in addition to concrete action plans for improving court security in their 

jurisdictions. SJI is looking forward to another year of working with the USMS on this program. 

SJI ISSUES 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. 

Page 3 E-SJI News – Vol. 20, No. 1
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. 

FY 2010 GRANT GUIDELINE NOW AVAILABLE 

On October 16, 2009, the FY 2010 SJI Grant Guideline was published in the 

Federal Register. The Guideline sets forth the administrative, programmatic, 

and financial requirements for FY 2010 grants and scholarships. A PDF 

version of the Guideline is available for download on the SJI website: 

http://www.sji.gov/PDF/Grant_Guideline_FY_2010.pdf

STATUS OF APPROPRIATIONS 

On June 18, 2009, the House passed the Commerce, Justice, Science and 

Related Agencies (CJS) Bill (H.R. 2847), providing appropriations for FY 

2010. SJI received its full request of $5,131,000, as proposed in the 

President’s Budget. The Senate CJS Appropriations Subcommittee approved 

its version of the Bill on June 24th, and the full Senate Appropriations 

approved the Bill on June 25th. The Senate mark includes $5,000,000 for SJI. 

Since the CJS Bill has yet to be finalized, SJI is currently operating on a 

Continuing Resolution (CR) that expires on October 31, 2009. It is likely a 

second CR will be passed that will fund SJI until December 18, 2009. Any 

new grants or scholarships approved by the Board during the 1st Quarter of FY 

2010 will not be awarded until the final appropriation is available. SJI will 

provide updates as the FY 2010 appropriations process continues to move 

forward. 

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT 

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

(2nd Quarter, FY 2010). 

Page 4 E-SJI News – Vol. 20, No. 1