Other changes include expanded hours of service and new filing and payment procedures. Court operations are generally becoming more efficient, as courts reorganize administrative operations along functional, rather than jurisdictional lines. This approach enables courts to eliminate duplication that existed in the former two-tier court system. The increased flexibility allows courts to reallocate resources to be more responsive to countywide need. Improved court calendars and case management practices are reported to have reduced backlogs and improved case disposition time in some courts.
Courts have more flexibility in organizing and assigning judicial and staff resources.
Judges are hearing a wider range of cases than before unification. Local rules, policies, and procedures are being standardized to support the countywide structure of court operations. The study also reports that limitations in court technology and facilities are increasingly apparent as courts, which are now larger and more complex organizations, strive to deliver services to the public on a countywide basis. The study focused on the 53 trial courts that were unified as of April 1999, when the study was commissioned. The analysis is qualitative and focuses on the initial changes and successes achieved through unification and remaining challenges facing trial courts.