U.S. Marshals Service/SJI Conclude Judicial 

Security Fellows Program With Training 

Volume 22, No. 1 October 2011 

E-SJI NEWS SJI NEWS

In this Issue 

USMS Judicial Security 

Fellows Program 

1 

Lafourche Parish, LA 

Criminal Caseflow 

Improvement 

2 

Status of FY 2012 

Appropriations 

2 

FY 2012 Grant Guideline 3 

 

In FY 2009, SJI partnered with the United States 

Marshals Service (USMS) on the USMS Judicial 

Security Fellows (JSF) Program (SJI-09-I-077). This 

program enabled court administrators and security 

officers to participate in joint training provided by 

the USMS and the National Center for State Courts 

(NCSC). The component of the JSF training supported by SJI included coordination of public and 

media relations in high visibility trials, developing 

approaches to policy and procedures, and consolidating training for court staff in security awareness and 

response.

SJI concluded its involvement with the multi-year 

JSF Program in June 2011, by supporting simultaneous statewide court security training in two states, 

Indiana and Maryland (SJI-10-I-021). The day and a 

half sessions were linked via video, so that teams 

from each state, onsite faculty, and trainers from 

other parts of the country, were able to participate 

using real-time conversations designed to enhance 

the overall experience. 

The teams, consisting of judges, court administrators, 

and court security providers, such as sheriff’s deputies and bailiffs, all participated as a cohesive unit 

representing their court, and were required to apply 

the information learned from each session to scenarios they encountered in their jurisdictions. 

The training curricula included the following topics: 

1) an overview of court structure and responsibility 

for security in each state; 2) best practices in court 

security; 3) threat and incident reporting; 4) personal 

safety; and 5) a security assessment exercise, referenced as Appendix II in the final project report. 

The program received a rating of “Excellent” by a 

majority of the participants, who also found value in 

the information sharing and court security exercise 

components of the training. Presentations by trainers 

from the USMS National Center for Judicial Security 

were also well-received by participants, who found 

real-life applications for these lessons. 

Though the JSF Program has concluded, the NCSC 

court security team of experts maintains an array of 

materials related to local, state, and national issues of 

court security and emergency preparedness, which 

can be accessed online. 

The report from this project, including detailed information on the training, participant feedback, and 

appendices can be found in the NCSC Library and 

Digital Archive. 

Page 1 

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For the latest information on 

projects, grant application deadlines, and updates. Connect with 

us on both forums by visiting 

our Facebook and Twitter pages. 
Lafourche Parish, LA, Criminal District Court Engages 

Partners to Study Caseflow and Justice Processes 

The 17th Judicial District Court of Lafourche 

Parish, Louisiana, received a Technical Assistance (TA) grant from SJI to obtain consulting 

services from the National Center for State 

Courts (NCSC), which assisted with a study 

of judicial system processes, specifically focusing on criminal caseflow management (SJI

-10-T-177). The final report for this project 

was recently completed and distributed by the 

Court and its partners, including the District 

Attorney, Clerk of Court, Office of Indigent 

Defense, and Sheriff. The partnership proved 

instrumental to the study and the accompanying report. 

Examination of the existing processes and 

multi-agency arrangements was necessary, 

since the Court has experienced an increase in 

criminal cases, which have overwhelmed 

available resources and forced judges to allocate a higher percentage of their time to criminal caseloads. Lafourche Parish was one of 

the areas hardest hit by the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, which devastated many coastal 

and bayou communities. The spill created 

competition among residents for high paying 

clean-up jobs and led to significant declines in 

citizens showing up for jury duty. In addition 

to the increasing workload, the Clerk has an old 

case management system, which judges are 

unable to access. As with many courts across 

the country, the Parish is hampered by outdated 

courtroom technology with no consensus on 

what cost effective improvements could be 

made to benefit both the Clerk and the Court. 

The report establishes several recommendations regarding: 1) information systems that 

affect criminal caseflow management; 2) establishment of processes, scheduling, probation, 

and related court activities to improve effective 

and efficient use of resources; 3) revision to 

monetary sanctions and collections; and 4) 

establishment of a criminal case policy board. 

The interagency collaboration needed to enact 

E-SJI News Volume 22, No. 1 October 2011 

Page 2 

some of the process and policy recommendations recommended in the report is key as 

updates to the information technology in the 

courtroom and at each agency will impact all 

partners. Further, a more cohesive approach 

to a unified set of criminal caseflow management policies, procedures, and protocols was 

deemed essential by the team of consultants to 

achieving improvement in efficiency and 

promote ongoing joint problem solving 

Status of FY 2012 Appropriations 

The latest Continuing Resolution (CR) (P.L. 

112-36) provides funding to SJI until November 18, 2011. While under a CR, SJI will 

approve new grants, but not make awards 

until a final appropriation is available for the 

remainder of the fiscal year. 

The demand for SJI grants remains high; 

therefore, SJI encourages prospective grantees 

to submit all Project, Technical Assistance 

(TA), and Curriculum Adaptation (CAT) 

grants applications per the stated quarterly deadlines, and not delay an application until 

the final FY 2012 budget is available. SJI 

will continue to provide updates on its website, Facebook, and Twitter as the appropriations process continues to move forward. 

among criminal justice partners. The final 

report will help the Court and its partners 

move forward to make these critical changes. 

The 34-page report, including multiple appendices, can be found in the NCSC Library and 

Digital Archive. 
Page 3 

SJI Board of Directors

Chairman 

James R. Hannah 

Chief Justice 

Supreme Court of Arkansas 

Little Rock, AR 

Vice Chairman 

Daniel J. Becker 

State Court Administrator 

Utah AOC 

Salt Lake City, UT 

Secretary 

Gayle A. Nachtigal 

Judge 

Washington County Circuit Court 

Hillsboro, OR 

Treasurer 

Hernan D. Vera 

President & CEO 

Public Counsel Law Center 

Los Angeles, CA 

Robert A. Miller 

Chief Justice (Ret.) 

Supreme Court of South Dakota 

Pierre, SD 

Chase T. Rogers 

Chief Justice 

Supreme Court of Connecticut 

Hartford, CT 

David V. Brewer 

Chief Judge 

Oregon Court of Appeals 

Salem, OR 

Wilfredo Martinez 

County Judge 

9th Judicial Circuit of Florida 

Orlando, FL 

Marsha J. Rabiteau 

Policy Consultant 

Rabiteau Consulting 

Bloomfield, CT 

John B. Nalbandian 

Partner 

Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP 

Cincinnati, OH 

Isabel Framer 

President 

Language Access Consultants, LLC 

Copley, OH

Jonathan D. Mattiello 

Executive Director 

The State Justice Institute is a federallyfunded, non-profit corporation established by 

federal law in 1984 to improve the quality of 

justice in the state courts. 

E-SJI News Volume 22, No. 1 October 2011 

On October 7, 2011, SJI released the new FY 

2012 Grant Guideline. The Grant Guideline 

appears as part of the National Archives and 

Records Administration’s Federal Register, 

and sets forth the administrative, programmatic, and financial requirements for applying 

and administering SJI grants. This includes 

the newly established Education Support 

Prgram (ESP), formerly the Scholarship ProSJI Releases FY 2012 Grant Guideline 

gram. Among some of the notable administrative changes are the following: 

Special Interest Categories: Project Grants, SJI 

has temporarily suspended, any prioritization 

on special areas of interest. The SJI Board 

will continue working to further encourage 

innovative ideas, as well as the exploration, 

adaptation, and improvement of policies impacting the state court community. Applicants 

should focus on how their project not only 

impacts their courts and stakeholders, but also 

addresses national court issues. 

Education Support Program (ESP): ESP was 

covered extensively in the September 2011

edition of the E-SJI News, including information on individual eligibility, revised application forms, and approved coursework and 

educational expenses. 

The next deadline for 

Grant and ESP 

applications is 

November 1, 2011. 

All materials must be 

sent in hard copy to 

SJI headquarters: 

11951 Freedom Drive 

Suite 1020 

Reston, VA 20190