August 2007

E-SJI 

The Voice of the State Justice Institute 

News

Vol. 17, No. 9

The Legal Services Corporation

(LSC) and SJI began working to

tighten the bonds between courts

and legal aid providers in FY 2006.

In FY 2007, LSC and SJI are continuing that effort by recently finalizing a Partner Grant totaling

$672,758. This second year Partner

Grant will fund a slate of innovative technology projects designed

to promote full access to justice

through the use of technology. The

Partnership uses LSC’s existing

Technology Initiative Grants (TIG)

program to support these innovative projects. SJI’s share, $336,379,

is fully matched by LSC, and will

provide additional resources to

develop collaborative efforts

between the courts and legal service programs in order to better

serve self-represented and lowincome litigants across the country.

Between FY 2006 and 2007,

LSC/SJI Partner Grants have supported $1.3 million in TIG projects.

The Institute is very excited about

the continuation of this partnership.

More information on the FY 2007

Partner Grant will be available in

the future from both LSC and SJI.

In the meantime, those interested in

LSC’s TIG program should visit the

website: http://tig.lsc.gov/.

What’s Inside

As those of you who have known

SJI from its early beginnings are

aware, the programmatic changes

implemented in the past few years

have had an impact on both what

we do and where the money goes.

When Congress required that SJI

restructure its efforts (while keeping the same mission), staff began

to seek innovative ways of doing

business. For example, SJI implemented a cash match requirement

for all grants and discontinued

grant continuations in order to

assure that SJI funds do not become

the sole source of funding for the

existence of a program.

We have not completed awarding

the FY 2007 4th quarter grant

applications, but as of this month,

we have found that the restructuring from several years ago has certainly impacted how Institute funds

are being distributed. The following charts show that in FY 1995

(one of the more active fiscal years

for SJI), the majority of grant funds

were provided to non-court entities,

or those non-profit agencies and

universities that support courts in

both research and areas of program

development. In fact, only 24% of

the grant funds went directly to the

courts. 

In FY 2007, 67% of the funds have

gone directly to the courts and only

24% have been awarded to noncourt entities. This clearly illustrates that SJI is complying with

Congressional intent.

continued on next page

A Look Back: SJI Restructuring Changes the Picture of Grant Recipients.(continued).......2

New Scholarship Forms for FY 2008.................................................................................................2-3

FY 2007 4th Quarter Grant Applications................................................................................3

Contact the Staff......................................................................................................................3

LSC & SJI Continue Partnership in FY 2007

A Look Back: SJI Restructuring 

Changes the Picture of Grant Recipients
Page 2 SJI News - Vol. 17, No.9

A Look Back: SJI Restructuring Changes the Picture of Grant Recipients

In addition, Congress also required SJI to find a way to leverage additional funds for court support. This is being

accomplished through the requirement of cash match for all grants except scholarships. As of the 3rd quarter of

FY 2007, there has been over $1.4 million in cash match to SJI grant awards (not including Partnership Grants).

The Institute is pleased that we have been able to restructure in a way that still allows us to assist the courts in

some very promising ways. 

continued from previous page

New Scholarship Forms 

for FY 2008

In the July E-SJI Newsletter, SJI announced that it was

making some changes to the Scholarship program in

FY 2008. These changes will be published in the

Federal Register this fall. New scholarship application

forms (SJI Forms S1 & S2) will be made available on

the SJI website after October 1, 2007. A significant

item that SJI would like to highlight is the requirement

to identify whether State or local funds are available

for the proposed course. Furthermore, the Concurrence Form (S2) will require that the Chief Justice (or

Designee) indicate whether State or local funds are

available for the applicant to attend the course.

Specifically, the Chief Justice will have to certify that:

1) Public funds are not available to enable the applicant to attend this course, and receipt of a scholarship

would not diminish the amount of funds made available by the State for judicial branch education; or 

2) Public funds are available to support the applicant,

but are insufficient to cover total costs. Therefore,

funding from SJI is requested. The purpose is to avoid

supplanting State and local funds in accordance with 

42 U.S.C. 10706(b).

SJI may not make payments for tuition, transportation,

and lodging expenses for a course in excess of $1,500.

Therefore, if a scholarship applicant has acquired State

funds to attend a course, that amount will be deducted

from the maximum payment SJI can make. 

Here is an example:

A judge decides to attend a course that costs $1,500, which

includes tuition, transportation, and lodging. He or she is successful in obtaining State funding that will cover $1,000 of the

total cost. The judge decides to submit a scholarship application

to SJI for help in covering the full cost of the course. Should SJI

make a scholarship award to this judge, the award would cover

the remaining $500. continued on next page
Page 3 SJI News - Vol. 17, No.9

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.

CONTACT THE STAFF

Please note staff phone extensions changed effective April 1, 2007.

Janice Munsterman, Executive Director

jmunsterman@statejustice.org, Ext. 202

Jonathan Mattiello, Deputy Director

jmattiello@statejustice.org, Ext. 210

Van Debrick, Chief, Finance

vdebrick@statejustice.org, Ext. 203

LaVerne Durham, Program/Finance Manager

ldurham@statejustice.org, Ext. 204

SJI received 20 grant applications requesting a total of $1.3 million for the

4th quarter of FY 2007. The Board will meet on September 21, 2007, to

make decisions on grant awards. The results of this final FY 2007 Board

meeting will be available the following week. Next month’s E-SJI

Newsletter will also include information on the final awards for this fiscal

year, along with a recap on total FY 2007 grant applications and awards.

New Scholarship Forms for FY 2008

More information about the Scholarship program will be available in the 

FY 2008 Federal Register and the SJI Website. If there are any questions, feel

free to also contact the Institute directly. 

continued from previous page

FY 2007 4th Quarter Grant Applications

Candice Jackson, Scholarship Coordintor

cjackson@statejustice.org, Ext. 200

Habel Samuel, Systems Manager

hsamuel@statejustice.org, Ext. 205

Ryan Williams, Finance Manager

rwilliams@statejustice.org, Ext. 206

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