Volume 22, No. 12 September 2012 

E-SJI NEWS SJI NEWS

In this Issue 

4th Quarter Grant 

Awards 

1 

Status of FY 2013 Appropriations & Court 

Security Legislation 

2 

Collaboration Between 

Trial Courts & Clerk of 

Courts 

2 

4th National 

Symposium for Court 

Management 

3 

Council for Court 

Excellence Program 

Announcement 

3 

Page 1 

SJI received 18 grant applications requesting a total 

of $1,349,759 for the 4th quarter of FY 2012. The 

Board met on September 17, 2012, to make decisions 

on those grant applications and awarded 15 grants 

totaling $791,537. Because of the high demand, SJI 

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projects, grant application deadlines, and updates. Connect 

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pages. 

SJI Board Awards Grants 

for the Fourth Quarter of FY 2012

had to deny some applications due to lack of available funding in the 4th quarter. 

Three (3) Project Grants were awarded, including: 

the New Mexico Administrative Office of the Courts 

to develop language access training for court employees to provide enhanced language access outside 

the courtroom; the American Bar Association (ABA) 

and the National Guardianship Network (NGN) to 

promote guardianship networks across 

the U.S.; and a judicial workload assessment for the Pennsylvania courts. 

Seven (9) Technical Assistance (TA) 

Grants were awarded, including: a language access project for the Rhode 

Island Judiciary; a readiness assessment 

of the Superior Court’s adult probation 

department in Imperial County, California; development of a succession plan 

for the Guam Judiciary; a pilot project 

for jury management using technology in the Fourth 

Judicial District Court of Minnesota; an evaluation of 

the organizational structures of the Supreme and Superior Courts in the U.S. Virgin Islands; a planning 

study for justice center facilities in Barberton, Ohio; 

of a National Judicial College (NJC) course on the 

legal issues related to fracking along the Marcellus 

Shale; a curriculum development project on human 

trafficking for the National Association of Women 

Judges (NAWJ); and training for family law judges on 

immigration, domestic violence, and sexual assault for 

the National Immigrant Women’s Advocacy Project 

at American University. 

rural court reengineering for 

Cochise County, Arizona; and 

court security projects in Orleans 

Parish, Louisiana, and the State of 

Hawaii. 

Three (3) Curriculum Adaptation 

and Training (CAT) Grants were 

awarded, including: development 
In approximately half of the state court systems, trial courts maintain the clerk of court as 

a department of the court, occasionally led by 

another elected official. Where the trial courts 

and clerk of courts are separate departments in 

the county or municipality, tasks associated 

with daily court management, services to the 

public, and general operations, specifically 

record keeping, statistics, case management 

and processing, are at risk of being divided, 

duplicated, and rendered ineffective. 

Recently, SJI has supported several Technical 

Assistance Grants to courts and clerk of court 

offices designed to insure that court services 

are delivered efficiently and effectively. 

Through evaluation, strategic planning, assessment, and review of existing policies, procedures, and protocols, consultants familiar with 

Status of FY 2013 Appropriations 

and Court Security Legislation 

E-SJI News Volume 22, No. 12 September 2012 

Page 2 

the state courts have been providing jurisdictions and their partners with critical resources 

to deal with increased demands for services 

from the public and a growing diversification 

of duties. 

Some of these SJI-funded projects include: 

Performance Evaluation of the Office of the 

Clerk in the Prince George's County, Maryland Circuit Court (SJI-11-T-161). This project examined automation of services and 

other strategies designed to address increased 

demand due to population growth, as well as 

how best to serve self-represented litigants. 

Assessment of Clerk Functions in the Court, 

Marion County Indiana (SJI-11-T-159): As the 

largest trial court system in the state of Indiana, Marion County recently conducted a 

study of the transfer of courtroom clerks and 

other functions from the Marion County 

Clerk’s Office to the Superior Court. The 

project is nearing completion, and the final 

project report will be made available online. 

SJI encourages courts that work with independent clerk of court offices, or are experiencing realignment of services due to growth, 

reorganization, or an increase in selfrepresented litigants, to explore Technical 

Assistance grant opportunities and determine 

if proposed projects align with any of SJI’s 

Priority Investment Areas. 

Promoting Collaboration Between 

Trial Courts and Clerk of Courts 

On September 13, 2012, the House passed a six-month Continuing Resolution (CR) (HJ Res. 117) for FY 2013. The Senate 

passed the CR on September 22, 2012. The CR will enable SJI to 

maintain current operations at the FY 2012 funding level, and 

award 1st quarter FY 2013 grants. 

On September 21, 2012, the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) released a report detailing the impact of a possible sequestration, as required by the Sequestration Transparency Act of 

2012 (P.L. 112-155). Should sequestration happen, SJI will be 

subject to an 8.2 percent reduction, or $419,922, from the FY 

2012 funding level. 

On May 24, 2012, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed the 

Local Courthouse Safety Act of 2012 (S.2076). The House 

passed the bill (H.R. 6185) on August 1, 2012. The bill enables 

state courts to request excess surplus security equipment from the 

federal government. In addition, the legislation adds a purpose 

area to the SJI Authorization Act highlighting SJI’s authority to 

award grants to improve court security. 
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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. 12 September 2012 

Council for Court 

Excellence Hosts Program as 

Part of Bench-Bar-Media Project

The Council for Court Excellence (CCE), as part of the second series of Bench-Bar-Media Project (SJI-11-E-176) will 

present a program titled, “Police, Protests, and Press Coverage” on October 2nd at the Georgetown University School of 

Law’s Hart Auditorium from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. 

Panelists will discuss the limits of press coverage of a protest 

on courthouse grounds; circumstances under which a press 

photographer’s camera and/or memory card may be confiscated by law enforcement; and limits of press coverage or 

photography when a police officer gives a legitimate order to 

move. Moderated by Patrick Madden, a reporter for WAMU 

88.5, the panelists will include: Chief Judge Royce Lamberth, 

U.S. District Court for D.C., Mary McCord, U.S. Attorney’s 

Office for D.C., Mickey Osterreicher, National Press Photographers Association, and reporters from both print media and 

broadcast news organizations. 

The program is free and open to the public. RSVPs can be 

sent to Jeff Capley at capley@courtexcellence.org 

New Resource Available on 

the National Symposium on 

Court Management

The website includes the symposium program, videos, materials, and a summary of the results from a recent survey on the well-being and growth of state 

courts. 

The 4th National Symposium on Court 

Management, held at the National Center 

for State Courts (NCSC) in October 2010, 

convened a range of state court stakeholders for only the 4th time since 1981. 

Participation at this symposium was by 

invitation only; however, the NCSC has 

recently made the resources from this event 

available to the entire state court community through a website titled, Readings from 

the 4th National Symposium on Court Management.