Board Approves Grants for the 3rd Quarter 

Volume 21, No. 9 June 2011 

E-SJI NEWS SJI NEWS

In this Issue 

3rd Quarter Grant 

Awards 

1 

CCJSCA White Paper on 

Appellate Court Staffing 

1 

Lancaster County, PA 

Operational Evaluation 

2 

SJI Grant Products at 

NCSC Library 

3 

SJI is Now on Facebook 3 

 

 

Page 1 

The SJI Board of Directors met on June 3, 

2011, to award new grants for the 3rd quarter 

of FY 2011. Thirteen (13) grants were 

awarded totaling $655,572. 

A Project Grant was approved for the 5th District Court of Appeal in California to build on 

their earlier Technical Assistance (TA) grant 

(SJI-09-T-160), which piloted an Electronic 

Document Management System (EDMS) as 

part of a Transcript Assembly Program (TAP) 

in 2 counties. This project will expand the 

program by deploying the tools to the remaining 7 counties within the District, and reduce 

costs associated with the compiling and storage of transcripts for cases on appeal. 

Nine (9) TA grants were approved, including: 

two assessments of court and clerk operations 

in Prince George’s County, Maryland, and 

Marion County, Indiana; an administrative 

office review for the Court of Common Pleas 

in York County, Pennsylvania; development 

of a court performance measurement 

dashboard utilizing CourTools in Lubbock 

County, Texas; strategic planning for the Judiciary of Guam; development of a juvenile 

justice plan for the Michigan courts; an assessment of collections for the South Dakota Unified Judicial System; multi-lingual translation 

of small claims forms for the Massachusetts 

Trial Courts; and implementation of interactive forms for self-represented litigants for the 

New Mexico Administrative Office of the 

Courts. 

Three (3) Curriculum Adaptation & Training 

(CAT) Grants were approved, including: a 

program by Legal Momentum for judges on 

adjudicating cases involving violence between 

intimate partners; two statewide education 

programs for judges and administrative staff 

on elder abuse issues in Nebraska; and implementation of an online training curriculum for 

court officers in San Bernardino County, California. 

New White Paper on Appellate Court Staffing 

The Council of Chief Judges of the State Courts of 

Appeal (CCJSCA) released the results of their SJIfunded (SJI-10-T-152) cost benefit evaluation of appellate court legal staff. With analysis assistance 

provided by the National Center for State Courts 

(NCSC), CCJSCA evaluated the benefits and limitations of central appellate research staff, entry-level 

law clerks, and professional law clerks. 

The purpose of this study was not to conclude whether 

or not a state intermediate appellate court (IAC) 

should select a specific type of legal staff over another; but to inform chief appellate court judges on 

how IACs currently use legal staff, and then provide a 

comparative analysis of the productivity, efficiency, 

cost-effectiveness, and work quality of the different 

types of legal staff. 

NCSC Consultants surveyed IACs on the functions, 

costs, and responsibilities assigned to three different 

legal research staff types, with 34 of 39 states providing responses. NCSC then selected 17 of the IAC 

respondents, analyzed their use of legal staff to avoid 

or reduce backlogs, and assessed the length of various 

stages of the appellate process and clearance rates. 

The three types of legal staff included in the analysis 

were: 

 Law Clerk: attorneys working for a single judge, 

having no direct responsibilities to the whole court; 

Central Staff Attorney: attorneys working for the 

court as a whole rather than for an individual judge, 

under the direction of a supervising attorney; and 

 Other court attorney: attorneys who are not part 

of a central staff and perform primarily administrative 

duties. 

The white paper includes profiles of specific IAC 

legal staff systems and an analysis based on size 

(established through number of filings). The final 

paper is available through the NCSC Library. 
services to indigent parties and 

limited-English proficiency persons; 

 Improve court reporter work 

scheduling and consider digital 

recording; 

 Continue reorganization of 

Adult Probation & Parole Services (APPS); 

 Introduce court information 

technology improvements; 

 Consolidate MDJ Court support operations; and 

 Promote enhanced court employee commitment and productivity. 

The final report highlights existing efforts already undertaken by 

the Court to improve efficiency, 

and provides recommendations to 

continue with those efforts. Each 

step is connected to a specific 

series of improvements the Court 

can expect to observe, as well as 

detailed data and background 

information, which supports the 

process and recommendations. 

A copy of the report and its appendices are available through the 

NCSC Library. 

Court of Common Pleas in Lancaster, 

Pennsylvania Completes Operational Evaluation 

Page 2 

E-SJI News Volume 21, No. 9 June 2011 

The Court of Common Pleas of 

Lancaster County, in the 2nd

Judicial District of Pennsylvania, 

has concluded an operational 

evaluation it began in the fall of 

2010. The Court released its two

-volume report titled, Twelve 

Steps to Enhance the Efficiency 

of Court Operations in Lancaster County, PA, as part of its SJIfunded Project Grant (SJI-10-N175). 

In 2010, the Court made a commitment to the County to review 

the efficiency and economy of 

court operations as part of a 

general initiative to streamline 

services. As part of that commitment, President Judge Joseph C. 

Madenspacher and District Court 

Administrator Mark M. Dalton 

engaged NCSC Consultants to 

assist the Court in enhancing the 

operational efficiency of the 

various departments of the 

Court, without loss in quality 

and effectiveness. Like most 

state, county, and municipal 

governments, Lancaster County 

has identified the need for more 

services and programs, despite 

significant budget shortfalls. 

Located in one of the most populous counties in the Commonwealth, the Court has an authorized judgeship level of 15, and 

receives a significant portion of 

its funding from the County. As 

a large court system, it has more 

than 540 full-time and part-time 

employees organized through a 

variety of departmental and midlevel managers, all of whom are 

under the direction of the District Court Administrator. In 

addition to the administrative 

office, the other departments of 

the court include the Magisterial 

District Courts, Jury Services, 

Adult Probation and Parole Services, Court Reporters, Domestic 

Relations, Juvenile Probation, 

Court Reporters, and the Law 

Library. 

 Improve collection of fines 

and fees in Magisterial District 

Judge (MDJ) Courts; 

Reduce pressure on local 

criminal justice system capacity; 

 Reduce inefficiencies in 

juvenile delinquency cases; 

 Reduce inefficiencies in 

domestic violence (PFA) case 

The NCSC report contains an 

extensive volume of appendices 

providing a review and comparison/contrast of the Court’s policies in relationship to other 

courts across the country, in 

addition to the final report. The 

report also includes NCSC study 

findings and recommendations, 

including estimated cost-savings 

and efficiencies that might be 

expected as a result of the implementation of the key steps to 

broadly improve operational 

efficiency, including: 

processing; 

 Continue improvement of 

adult probation misdemeanor 

and felony collections; 

 Streamline processes for 
Effective October 1, 2010, (FY 2011) the 

NCSC Library became the repository for all 

SJI grant products, including reports, curricula, media, and any documents in their final 

version created by SJI grant funding. 

A benefit of this collaboration with the NCSC 

Library is their online searchable catalog and 

digital archive. The catalog contains a listing 

of all holdings at the physical location in Williamsburg, Virginia, and the digital archive 

allows users to access electronic versions of 

NCSC Library holdings. Applicants are 

strongly encouraged to research previous SJIfunded grant products by using these tools 

prior to developing grant applications. 

All grantees must send SJI one hard copy and 

one digital copy (preferably in Adobe PDF or 

Microsoft Word) of their final grant products. 

Project Grant recipients are requested to send 

three (3) hard copies and one (1) digital copy 

upon completion of their grant. 

In addition to the SJI Grant Products, the Library holds over 36,000 items in various formats: print, video, CD-ROM, and microfiche. 

As part of its print collection, the Library receives, either by subscription or donation, 

approximately 200 professional journals, court 

newsletters, annual reports, and other periodicals. 

For more information on NCSC Library holdings, its strategic vision, and loan of materials 

to judges and court personnel, please visit their 

website. 

NCSC Library Serves as 

Repository for SJI Grant Reports 

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 

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 

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 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. 

E-SJI News Volume 21, No. 9 June 2011 

SJI is Now on 

Facebook 

SJI has joined Facebook and encourages you 

to “Like our Page.” 

SJI’s Facebook page is focused on connecting 

the innovations produced by grantees with the 

larger state court community, promoting 

events that SJI is participating in or supporting, and sharing information on grants, including deadlines and reminders. 

The SJI Facebook page will 

complement 

existing outreach efforts, which include the SJI 

website and monthly E-SJI News. 

Founded in February 2004, Facebook is a 

social utility that promotes efficient communication in a trusted environment.