The National Association for Court Management

(NACM) held its Annual Conference in Chicago

July 8-12, 2007, which was well attended. It

allowed opportunities for court personnel to share

information, learn how other courts addressed similar

issues, and hear about programs developed to address

common concerns. SJI is proud to have played a role

in helping courts address some of these issues and we

felt that sharing interesting ideas from that conference

should be included in this month’s E-SJI News. 

During the conference, the 20th Judicial

Circuit Court & Ottawa County Probate

Court, in Michigan, were the recipients of

the 2007 Justice Achievement Award

Honorable Mention for their “You and

the Courts” Public Education Project.

The two courts had identified the need

for an education strategy to increase public understanding of the Courts. In order

to determine which issues should be

addressed, teams were assembled and sent out on

the streets to select random people and ask them what

they knew about the Courts in exchange for $1.00. The

public responses, along with answers to many questions, were then organized into an educational

video/DVD entitled, “You and the Courts.” This video

is a flexible teaching tool that has many applications

for individual, group, school, media or targeted presentations. The hope is that this video will educate the

public about the business of the Courts and ultimately

increase the public’s trust through better understanding

of the Courts. 

In discussing this project with Kevin Bowling, the

Court Administrator, the background of these efforts

was more fully explained. He pointed out that this particular project had actually been one piece of a larger

effort that had grown out of an earlier grant from SJI to

support a strategic planning process carried out in

2004. That grant supported the two courts in a strategic planning process, which itself had been designed

and used by courts in the 1990s and funded by an SJI

grant, and the Visioning and Strategic Planning Core

Competency published by the National Association for

Court Management (NACM). Once the strategic plan

was fully developed, additional funding was received

from the Bureau of Justice Assistance to develop

a number of different initiatives identified in

the Strategic Plan developed in 2004.

Kevin Bowling and the consultant,

Brenda J. Wagenknecht-Ivey (President

of PRAXIS Consulting, Inc.) prepared a

report describing the Process that resulted in several very interesting projects,

from which “You and the Courts” was

chosen to be presented at NACM. The

report is quite interesting and useful so we have

placed it on our website - statejustice.org. This type of

project certainly shows how courts can combine funding strategies for multiple purposes.

Other projects discussed at the Conference included

discussions about the National Center for State Courts’

(NCSC) “CourTools” project, which provides support

and directions on how courts can start to implement

performance measures in various program areas, such

July 2007

E-SJI 

The Voice of the State Justice Institute 

News

Vol. 17, No. 8

NACM Annual Conference:

Opportunity to Share Ideas

continued on page 3

What’s Inside

SJI Announces Changes to the Scholarship Program................2

Status of FY 2008 Appropriations..............................................2

NACM (continued).....................................................................3

Mark Your Calendars..................................................................3

Classifieds...................................................................................4

FY 2008 Federal Register Coming Soon....................................4
SJI is making some changes to its Scholarship

Program for FY 2008. Details of the changes

will be published in the Federal Register this fall.

In the meantime, SJI wants to share with you some of

these changes. 

Currently, scholarship applications are received by SJI

quarterly; each quarter addressing only education programs occurring during a specific three-month period.

For example, the upcoming deadline is August 24,

2007, for programs beginning between October 1 and

December 31, 2007. These applications are allowed to

have a postmark date up to August 24, 2007. After

being received by SJI staff, scholarship documents

must be prepared and mailed to the Board of Directors

for their consideration. As a result, applicants may not

hear about the status of their scholarship application

until the middle of September, which could be very

close to the actual training program if it is being held in

early October. To make it easier for applicants to plan

to attend educational programs, SJI has decided to

allow scholarship applications for any education program in FY 2008 to be submitted any time during the

fiscal year with the reviews following each of the deadlines below.

The quarterly review dates for receiving applications

will remain the same as in prior fiscal years. Please

note that the review dates for FY 2008 are: November

30, 2007; February 23, 2008; May 25, 2008; and

August 24, 2008. All applications received by each of

those dates will be reviewed and applicants will be

notified within a month of each date, regardless of

when the program is scheduled. 

Those wishing to apply for a scholarship are reminded

that no annual conference of a membership organization, even when it has a “training track,” is eligible for

funding. Furthermore, scholarships can only be awarded for courses held in a state other than the one in

which the applicant resides or works, or for on-line

courses. 

Applicants who are awarded scholarships should note

that the awarding of a scholarship does not automatically register them for the course. Scholarship recipients must complete the registration process and then

seek reimbursement for the actual fee and other costs

as a reimbursement from SJI once the course is completed. Proof of attendance is required for the check to

be sent to the recipient. 

The SJI Scholarship Program is available to full-time

judges of State or local trial and appellate courts; full

time professional, State, or local court personnel with

management responsibilities; and supervisory probation personnel in judicial branch probation offices.

Senior judges, part-time judges, quasi-judicial hearing

officers including referees and commissioners, administrative law judges, staff attorneys, law clerks, line

staff, law enforcement officers, and other executive

branch personnel are not eligible.

Page 2 SJI News - Vol. 17, No.8

SJI Announces Changes To The Scholarship Program

Status of FY 2008

Appropriations

On July 26, 2007, the House of Representatives

passed the FY 2008 Commerce, Justice, Science

(CJS) Appropriations Bill (H.R. 3093); which

included SJI's request of $4.64 million. On June

28, 2007, the Senate Appropriations Committee

approved the CJS Bill (S. 1745); which included

$3.5 million for SJI. The Institute appreciates the

continued support of Congress. SJI will continue to provide updates on the FY 2008 appropriations process in future E-SJI Newsletters.
Page 3 SJI News - Vol. 17, No.8

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

FY2008, 1st QUARTER APPLICATIONS ARE

DUE FOR BOARD CONSIDERATION 

NO LATER THAN OCTOBER 1, 2007

Please note that should SJI be under a continuing

resolution during the first part of FY 2008, new

grant awards can only be made tentatively, and are

subject to the final availability of appropriations.

Therefore, those considering submitting new applications in the 1st quarter of FY 2008 are cautioned

that the grant (if awarded) may not be able to

receive SJI funds during the first part of the fiscal

year. Once a final appropriation is enacted, SJI will

be able to release FY 2008 grant funding.

NACM continued from page 1

performance measures in various program areas, such

as access and fairness, trial date certainty, clearance

rates, and numerous others. Several courts that had

implemented various parts of the “CourTools” reported

on their efforts, including Lubbock County District

Court and County Courts at Law in Lubbock, Texas;

County of San Mateo Superior Court of California; and

the Superior Court in Yuma County, Arizona. More

information about these projects can be obtained from

NCSC. SJI is happy to have provided funding to several courts to conduct projects using this tool. 

There were also sessions that addressed Accountability

in Rural Courts. These courts often face unique problems of distance, sparse populations, and limited

resources. The ways in which these courts are organized vary widely from state to state but they face a

number of common issues. Sessions were held to provide open discussions of the problems and potential

ways that court managers can improve and enhance the

courts to provide high quality justice services and

appropriate accountability. Small groups were included in the sessions to allow participants to work together in addressing similar problems. These sessions

seemed to provide considerable support and encouragement to rural courts that are often overlooked when

urban court issues are being addressed.

NACM provides a considerable amount of information

and documents on their website - nacmnet.org. The

Conference certainly showed the value of sharing

information and meeting with other court jurisdictions

to discuss common issues facing the courts today. SJI

encourages you to continue sharing your ideas with

others and with the Institute.

August 1

August 24

September 19-20

October 1

Applications due for last quarter

of FY 2007

Scholarship applications deadline

SJI Board Meeting (Alexandria,

VA)

1st quarter applications deadline

for FY 2008
Page 4 SJI News - Vol. 17, No.8

E-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.statejustice.org

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

Finance Director

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

in 1984 to provide financial 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

confimed by the Senate.

CLASSIFIEDS

EMPLOYMENT

Pro Bono Net & Legal Services Corporation Announce 

Document Assembly Circuit Rider Position

Pro Bono Net (PBN), a national nonprofit organization using innovative technology to increase legal assistance to indigent persons, is seeking a highly

qualified candidate to serve as the National Document Assembly Project

Circuit Rider for legal aid and court communities nationally. With funding

from LSC’s Technology Initiative Grants (TIG) program and SJI, the

Document Assembly Circuit Rider will work closely with the National Project

partner organizations involved in court-legal services collaborations as they

plan for and incorporate document assembly into their service delivery systems. The Document Assembly Circuit Rider will provide strategic, editorial,

and technological advice as well as serve as a critical communication link for

delivering information about best practices to the broader community.

Although the Document Assembly Circuit Rider may troubleshoot some software issues, this is not a technology support position. Those interested should

email resume, references, and cover letter to jobs@probono.net.

In FY 2006, the SJI and LSC partnership provided over $600,000 in TIG grants

to legal aid technology projects with a distinct court nexus. SJI and LSC are

continuing this partnership in FY 2007. 

A few minor changes in the SJI Grant

Guideline are anticipated for FY 2008.

They will be placed in the Federal

Register for public review in late

September. The anticipated changes

include the scholarship application

procedures (reported in this Newsletter) and the Special Interest Areas. SJI

will post the Guideline on our website,

as well as in the Federal Register and

encourages you to keep an eye open

for that document.

FY 2008 Federal Register Coming Soon