A Report of the Supreme Court of Nevada Court Funding Commission X NEVADA JUDICIAL BRANCH FUNDING: RESOURCES and OPERATIONS DURING FISCAL YEAR 2003
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NEVADA JUDICIAL BRANCH FUNDING: RESOURCES AND OPERATIONS DURING FISCAL YEAR 2003 A Report of the Supreme Court of Nevada Court Funding Commission x NEVADA JUDICIAL BRANCH FUNDING: RESOURCES AND OPERATIONS DURING FISCAL YEAR 2003 A REPORT OF THE SUPREME COURT OF NEVADA COURT FUNDING COMMISSION March 2005 Creation of Commission: “a Supreme Court Commission shall be created for the purpose of studying the funding levels of the various courts and the mechanisms used to fund the various courts and recom- mending to this Court proposals to ensure that all courts are funded fairly, adequately and reasonably.” (Order Establishing Administrative Assessment Commission and Court Funding Commission, ADKT No. 347, filed March 12, 2003.) i SUPREME COURT OF NEVADA Nancy A. Becker, Chief Justice Robert E. Rose, Vice-Chief Justice A. William Maupin, Associate Justice Mark Gibbons, Associate Justice Michael L. Douglas, Associate Justice James W. Hardesty, Associate Justice Ronald D. Parraguirre, Associate Justice Distributed by the Supreme Court of Nevada, Administrative Office of the Courts March 2005 www.nvsupremecourt.us ii Court Funding Commission members Justice Deborah A. Agosti, Supreme Court of Nevada* Chief Judge James W. Hardesty, Second Judicial District* Chief Judge Dan L. Papez, Seventh Judicial District Judge Ronald D. Parraguirre, Eighth Judicial District Judge Christina Brisebill, Justices’ Court of Pahrump Township* Judge Susan Deriso, Justices’ Court of Sparks Township Judge Deborah J. Lippis, Justices’ Court of Las Vegas Township Judge Cedric A. Kerns, Las Vegas Municipal Court Mr. Mark E. Amodei, State Senator Mr. Bernie Anderson, State Assemblyman Mr. Bill Martin, President and CEO, Nevada State Bank Mr. Marc Mersol, Controller, State Bar of Nevada Mr. Vincent A. Consul, Esq., Dickerson, Dickerson, Consul & Pocker Mr. John P. Desmond, Esq., Jones Vargas Ms. Catherine Cortez Masto, Assistant County Manager, Clark County Mr. Steven M. Morris, Manager, Clark County Detention Operations* Ms. Christy Magers, Court Administrator, Reno Municipal Court Mr. Charles J. Short, Court Administrator, Eighth Judicial District* Ad Hoc Members Mr. Joe Tommasino, Esq., Justices’ Court of Las Vegas Township* Mr. Ron Longtin, Court Administrator, Second Judicial District* Legislative Counsel Bureau Advisory Staff Ms. Allison Combs, Chief Principal Research Analyst Ms. Julie Brand, Program Analyst Administrative Office of the Courts (staff to Commission) Ron Titus, State Court Administrator* Judy Holt, Manager, Budget & Finance Department* Robin Sweet, Court Research Analyst* Rob Dobbins, Court Research Analyst* Vicki Elefante, Court Services Analyst* Christy Kuhl, former Court Services Analyst Consultants Karen Kavanau Sheryl Overstreet, Teamworks Consulting, Inc. Justice Management Institute Staff Alan Carlson* Leonard Cumley Doug Somerlot * Members of the Report Drafting Subcommittee. iii A MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR To the People of the State of Nevada: I am pleased to present the Report of the tive mandates, and mandates from the Supreme Court Funding Commission of the Supreme Court Court per its rule-making authority, are designed to of Nevada. This Commission began its work in enhance consistency within the judicial branch of November 2003, for the purpose of assessing the government. It is one thing to mandate, however, level of funding and resources in, and services and quite another to assure that the courts have the offered by, each court within the Nevada court tools and resources to meet their responsibilities system. and to promote justice. Never before in the history of Nevada has The adequacy of local funding will determine anyone known at any particular point in time, by the length of the wait an individual might experi- any estimate, the cost of operating the courts in ence while in line to pay a traffic ticket, to obtain Nevada or what we get for our money. According a trial date for a Municipal Court trial, or to file a to the Nevada Constitution, the Chief Justice of the small claims action. Funding will dictate how long Supreme Court is the administrative head of all the a person is placed on hold when telephoning a courts. And yet, no Chief Justice has ever had any court, and the availability of knowledgeable staff detailed knowledge of the budget of any of the to answer questions. Funding will dictate whether courts of Nevada other than the budget of the a court has a web site providing the public with Supreme Court itself. This is not the fault of the information about the courts and helpful forms for Supreme Court. Rather, it is the logical conse- litigants, and the extent to which such a web site is quence of the historical, constitutional structure maintained. Funding will dictate how secure a of the courts in Nevada, in which all the general person will be and feel when coming to the court jurisdiction (District Courts) and limited jurisdic- to do business or simply observe as a spectator. tion courts (Justices’ and Municipal Courts) are Funding will dictate what accommodations will financially supported by the counties or cities they exist for jury panels and how comfortable potential serve. jurors will be when they respond to a summons to Since statehood was achieved in 1864, the appear for jury service. Funding will dictate if number of courts and judges in Nevada has in- secure space exists to separate witnesses from creased substantially. Their responsibilities and litigants, to separate victims from the accused, to duties have also changed substantially over time separate the jury from the public, and to separate and will continue to change. The creation of small adverse parties and their attorneys. Funding will claims courts, the institution of court-annexed dictate the ability of limited jurisdiction courts to arbitration, court mediation, family court, manda- supervise their probationers, to monitor the collec- tory statistical reporting, mandatory criminal tion of fines or administrative assessments, or to reporting, changes in the civil jurisdictional dollar monitor compliance with court orders – the very limits of the Justices’ Courts, the creation of the essence of the integrity of a court. Funding will system of administrative assessments, changes in determine whether a drug offender in the District jury trial requirements in the District and Justices’ Court will go to prison or instead be given the Courts, the advent of specialization in the District opportunity to rehabilitate in the drug court envi- Courts, the new emphasis on active case manage- ronment. Funding will determine if a mentally ill ment by judges, experimentation with problem- offender will be monitored and provided valuable solving courts (such as drug courts) and business mental health assistance through mental health courts, and the institution of the Short Trial Pro- court. Funding will determine if a judge can even gram are just some of the more recent changes in order a neutral professional to investigate the judicial responsibilities that come to mind. Addi- living conditions of children in the control of one tionally, the needs of the public have also changed parent when serious questions about those living over time, whether reflected in amendments to conditions are raised by the other. Funding will rules or statutes or not. Increasingly, new legisla- determine whether divided families in distress will iv have a monitored or unmonitored exchange point plaint, members of AOC staff made the work of for children when visitation has been ordered. the Commission a priority among their so many When some courts are better supported than other, unrelated priorities. They too recognized the others, serious questions arise about the public’s ground-breaking nature of this project and sup- equal access to justice across the state. It is cer- ported it with their expertise, enthusiasm, interest tainly unfair if a criminal defendant goes to prison and, of course, great chunks of time. I am awed by simply because a local jurisdiction cannot afford their commitment; the public is well served by resources for rehabilitation efforts, when that same their efforts. defendant would be given a chance at rehabilita- I also wish to acknowledge the invaluable tion in another jurisdiction that has more resources assistance of the Justice Management Institute available to the courts. (JMI). In particular, I want to thank Alan Carlson The work of the Court Funding Commission of JMI, who was hired to provide technical assis- is an important first step in gaining information tance as a consultant to the Commission. Alan’s about the comparative financial health and condi- expertise was extraordinarily helpful in formulat- tion of all Nevada courts. But I emphasize that the ing the survey instrument, bringing focus to the work of the Commission is just that: a first step. Commission’s work, and in producing the final Now remains the tasks of making policy determi- product. nations about how best to fund Nevada’s courts, I wish to thank the members of the Supreme at what minimum levels they ought to be funded, Court of Nevada, both as it was constituted in whether objective, qualitative markers and indica- 2003 when the Commission was convened under tors exist that can be identified for use in determin- their authority and as it is currently constituted in ing the effectiveness and financial stability of 2005. In 2003, I had asked District Judges Jim Nevada’s courts, and how best to organize pro- Hardesty and Ron Parraguirre to participate as grams and services to deliver justice equally members of the Commission. Now, as this report is across the state. being published, they are members of the Supreme Commission members were invited to partici- Court of Nevada. I thank them as members of the pate in this endeavor, and my goal was to assemble Commission and now as members of the Supreme an inclusive collection of individuals with a Court. desirable level of expertise and interest. The Finally, I wish you, the reader, well. This is Commission, therefore, included representatives not an easy report to review in detail.