E

October 2008 Vol

-SJI New

. 19, No. 1 

s    

SJI GRANT PROGRAMS CONTINUE 

TO ADDRESS NATIONAL COURT ISSUES 

During FY 2008, SJI continued to focus on national court issues in addition to supporting individual state and 

local court projects. To accomplish this, SJI used its existing Partner Grant program to address several court 

issues, and also the newly established Strategic Initiatives Grants (SIG) program. In fact, Partner Grant and SIG 

awards accounted for 46 percent of the total grant awards in FY 2008. Both were very successful in FY 2008, 

and SJI will continue to build on these successes in FY 2009. 

The SIG program was approved by Congress in FY 2008, and 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. SJI began using the SIG program to address immigration issues in the 

state courts at a national impact level. Two grants were awarded; one to the Center for Public Policy Studies 

(CPPS); and another to support a collaborative effort between the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) and 

the National Judicial College (NJC). Both are currently in progress and SJI continues to provide project updates 

in the E-SJI News. 

The Partner Grant program continues to provide significant resources to address court issues on a national level. 

Partner Grants were created in FY 2006 to allow SJI and other federal departments or agencies, or other nonprofits, combine financial resources in pursuit of common interests. Between FY 2006 and 2008, SJI awarded 

$2,478,295 in Partner Grants; all of which were 100 percent matched by SJI’s partners. These grants increase 

coordination between SJI and other grant-making agencies such as the U.S. Department of Justice/Bureau of 

Justice Assistance (BJA), Legal Services Corporation (LSC), and the Pew Charitable Trusts. FY 2008 marked 

another successful year for Partner Grants, including new Partner Grants with BJA on drug court training; the 

U.S. Marshals Service on court and judicial security; and LSC to continue supporting collaborative efforts 

between the state courts and legal service programs. 

Grants to State Courts and Court 

Support Organizations 3, 4

Inside

Final Grant Awards for FY 2008 

and Implications for FY 2009 2,3

New Payment Process FY 2009 SJI Budget 5

for Grants and 

Scholarships 4

 
FINAL GRANT AWARDS FOR FY 2008 

AND IMPLICATIONS FOR FY 2009 

For FY 2008, there were 270 grants requested; totaling $4,439,428. This was approximately the same amount 

of funding requested in FY 2007; however, the total number of grant requests increased 6 percent over FY 

2007. More discussion is required about the types of grants requested, because this dynamic has changed. 

Between FY 2006 and 2008, the total number of Project Grant requests decreased by 41 percent; whereas the 

total number of TA Grant requests increased by 150 percent and the number of CAT Grant requests increased 

by 225 percent. Furthermore, between FY 2007 and 2008, the total dollar amount requested for Project Grants 

decreased by 41 percent (from $2,771,533 in FY 2007 to $1,630,178 in FY 2008). However, the total dollar 

amount requested for TA and CAT requests increased by 106 percent (from $496,760 in FY 2007 to $1,024,108 

in FY 2008). Therefore, the demand for smaller TA and CAT grants has increased; whereas the demand for the 

larger Project Grants has decreased. 

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Project Grants TA CAT

29

12

4

23

16

6

17

30

13

GRANTREQUESTS BY GRANT TYPE:

FY 2006 ‐ 2008

FY 2006

FY 2007

FY 2008

Many state courts were experiencing (and are continuing to experience) significant budget issues in FY 2008. 

The reason for the drop in Project Grant requests is two-fold: 1) in this climate of severe budget restraints, state 

courts do not have the financial or manpower resources required to conduct large projects; and 2) the dollar-fordollar cash match requirement for project grants is unattainable for many state courts, but there is state funding 

available to support TA and CAT grants because these grant programs only require a 50 percent match (as 

opposed to a dollar-for-dollar match for Project Grants), of which only 20 percent must be cash match. (continued 

on page 3) 

Page 2 E-SJI News – Vol. 19, No. 1
State court budgets are unlikely to experience any budget relief in the near future. Therefore, SJI expects that 

the requests for TAs and CATs will continue to increase in FY 2009. These smaller grants are critical to state 

and local courts, and SJI will support these projects while continuing use the other larger grant programs to 

address national court issues. 

GRANTS TO STATE COURTS 

AND COURT SUPPORT ORGANIZATIONS 

The Conference Report (H.R. 109-272) accompanying the FY 2006 Science, State, Justice, and Commerce, and 

Related Agencies Appropriations Act (P.L. 109-108) directed that successful applicants for new SJI grants 

provide a cash match. This has had a significant impact on the state courts and court support organizations. 

Since FY 2006, the state courts have received the majority of SJI grants and grant dollars, compared to previous 

years. 

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

FY 2001 FY 2002 FY 2003 FY 2004 FY 2005 FY 2006 FY 2007 FY 2008

Number of Grants

STATE JUSTICE INSTITUTE

GRANTS TO STATE COURTS & COURT SUPPORTORGANIZATIONS

FY 2001 ‐ 2008

State Courts

Court Support Org.

Note: Number of grants and amounts do not include Scholarships, Strategic Initiatives Grants, or Partner Grants. 

After the cash match requirement was established a new dynamic emerged where the state courts and court 

support organizations combined their efforts to compete for SJI grants. Typically, the state courts have the 

money available for the cash match requirement, whereas the court support organizations do not. Conversely, 

the court support organizations have the expertise to apply for and execute grant projects. (continued on page 4) 

Page 3 E-SJI News – Vol. 19, No. 1 
SJI now receives numerous grant applications where a State court has identified a critical issue to be addressed 

and a court support organization is providing the technical assistance for the project. The result of the cash 

match requirement has been a far greater convergence of court needs and court support organization 

capabilities; both of which have benefited judicial systems across the United States. 

$‐

$500,000

$1,000,000

$1,500,000

$2,000,000

$2,500,000

$3,000,000

$3,500,000

$4,000,000

FY 2001 FY 2002 FY 2003 FY 2004 FY 2005 FY 2006 FY 2007 FY 2008

STATE JUSTICE INSTITUTE

GRANTS TO STATE COURTS & COURT SUPPORT ORGANIZATIONS

FY 2001 ‐ 2008

State Courts

Court Support Org.

Note: Number of grants and amounts do not include Scholarships, Strategic Initiatives Grants, or Partner Grants. 

NEW PAYMENT PROCESS FOR GRANTS AND SCHOLARSHIPS 

Beginning in FY 2009, SJI contracted a significant portion of its financial processes to the General Services 

Administration (GSA). This includes payments for awarded grants and scholarships. SJI will no longer issue 

checks directly; rather, electronic fund transfers (EFTs) or hard checks will be issued from the U.S. Treasury. 

Current grantees and scholarship recipients are encouraged to receive payments via EFT. This is a faster 

method of receiving payment from SJI. To participate in EFT, SJI will need a completed SF 3881-Automated 

Clearing House (ACH)/Miscellaneous Payment Enrollment Form. This form is available on the SJI 

website: http://www.sji.gov/forms.php. Please feel free to contact SJI if there are questions regarding this new 

payment process. 

Page 4 E-SJI News – Vol. 19, 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 

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 

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 2009 SJI BUDGET 

SJI is currently operating under a Continuing Resolution (CR) (P.L. 110-329) 

through March 6, 2009. While under a CR, the Board of Directors will 

approve new grant requests for FY 2009, but will not make any awards until 

SJI’s final appropriation is available. New grantees for FY 2009 may request 

to begin their project prior to the availability of SJI’s appropriation. They may 

also request permission to use cash match funds until such time as SJI funds 

are available for reimbursement. New applicants are strongly encouraged to 

let SJI know in their grant applications that they need to start the project and 

spend cash match prior to the availability of appropriations. 

The Senate Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) Appropriations Bill (S 3182), 

includes $5.0 million for SJI in FY 2009; an increase of $1.24 million over FY 

2008. The House Appropriations Committee-approved CJS Bill (bill number 

pending), provides $4.1 million for SJI; an increase of $340,000 over FY 

2008. 

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS 

3⁄4 Next grant and scholarship application deadline: February 1, 2009 (2nd

QTR, FY 2009). 

3⁄4 The FY 2009 SJI Grant Guideline is now available on the SJI Website. 

3⁄4 The NCSC’s Guide for Continuity of Operations (COOP) planning for 

courts has been updated with a new online course that augments and 

reinforces the information provided in the COOP Planning Guide. 

http://www.ncsconline.org/D_Research/coop/index.html. 

 

Page 5 E-SJI News – Vol. 19, No. 1