Vol 20 No 2 HIGHLIGHTS Spring 2012 2 Jackson County Joint Treatment Court 8 Courts celebrate Law Day 4 Election brings 12 new judges 13 Muni judge takes on truancy 7 Seven longtime judges step down 18 New checklist to help with filing appeals eFiling gains momentum as Milwaukee County comes on board n April 2, Milwaukee County Circuit Court joined 17 2008 under Wis. Stats. § 801.17. Counties began to offer Oother Wisconsin counties now offering eFiling. The eFiling in certain case types (Small Claims, Civil and Milwaukee project includes civil, family and small claims Family) in 2009. Counties may ‘opt in’ to eFiling if the local cases. judges and clerk of circuit court implement the appropriate Now more than two months into the launch, Clerk of procedures. Over the next several years, the number of Circuit Court John Barrett is enthusiastic about the counties in which the circuit court offers eFiling is possibilities that eFiling offers: increased expected to grow. accessibility, convenience and security for eFiling is continually improved as more a publication of the Wisconsin Judiciary a publication of the Wisconsin litigants, clerks and judges along with potential counties come online, said Jean Bousquet, savings to taxpayers in lower storage costs and Chief Information Officer for the state other related processing costs. court system. Upcoming software In ongoing efforts to publicize eFiling to updates will make eFiling easier for Milwaukee’s legal community, court staff and attorneys. Barrett is spreading the word For example, clerk of through presentations at law circuit court staff can firms, an article in a legal choose where to place file magazine, signage in the courthouse and stamps on the filed documents, press releases. The Clerk’s Office also conducted a and attorneys will have the ability to notarize presentation on May 15 for 168 attorneys, legal staff and documents and select multiple documents to upload at office managers, law students, paralegals and other interested the same time, Bousquet said. parties at Marquette University Law School. A webcast of Some of the improvements were made as a result of the presentation can be viewed online at: http://law- lessons learned as Milwaukee County initiated eFiling. media.marquette.edu/Mediasite/Play/e2902ef9e23f4a229bfcd “All in all, it is going very well from our perspective,” b4a75bbac441d. Bousquet said. “John (Barrett) and his staff are very “As we expected, the use is increasing day by day,” Barrett supportive and work through issues with us. They have said. “We hope more lawyers and self-represented litigants brought a lot of new good ideas to the table. We, in turn, are will look to electronic filing as an easy, convenient and programming a new release of eFiling and making changes secure way of addressing the community’s legal needs with to case management to address these items.” n the court system.” Wisconsin’s eFiling system was developed by the Additional information about eFiling, including an online Consolidated Court Automation Programs (CCAP) after the demonstration, can be found on the court system’s website at Wisconsin Supreme Court approved statutory guidelines in www.wicourts.gov/ecourts/efilecircuit.htm. Supreme Court appoints Dane County wins new law librarian $50,000 grant he Wisconsin Supreme Court has he Dane County Clerk of Circuit Courts Office Tappointed Julie Tessmer to serve as Treceived formal notification this spring that it Wisconsin State Law Librarian. Tessmer has has been selected for a $50,000 grant from the worked at the library since 1982. State Justice Institute. The grant will pay for a Tessmer succeeds Jane Colwin, who project that will help the office to determine how retired in June 2011. Since that time, best to allocate existing Tessmer has held the position on an interim staff and introduce new basis. efficiencies into Tessmer’s extensive professional caseload and workflow experiences include serving as law library processing. Details are still being The Third Branch consultant in Nigeria and Serbia for the National Center for State Courts. She also worked out, but Clerk has chaired and served on a number of of Circuit Court Carlo Julie Tessmer committees for the Law Librarians Esqueda said the office Association of Wisconsin and the American Association of Law will be partnering with Librarians. the National Center for A member of the United States Navy - Reserves Component, State Courts to perform Tessmer served in Iraq in 2009-10, and is certified as Legalman the study. n Carlo Esqueda www.wicourts.gov through the Naval Justice School. n 2 Spring Director’s column: 2012 New statewide CJCC will value local input THE THIRD BRANCH By A. John Voelker, Director of State Courts n the last edition of The Third Branch, I wrote about Council and giving us the opportunity to experience the Ieffective criminal justice innovations, concluding as benefits of cooperation at the state level. Our ability to follows: “As we learn more about what works best, we will create a statewide CJCC that is effective is critical because spread the word so courts throughout the state may take there may not be a second chance. Any future effort is advantage of what’s been learned doomed to face critics who argue, “We tried that but it without having to start from didn’t work.” We know it can work; local leaders have scratch.” proven it and have given us the road map for success. Like most things, this is easier said I am a member of the new CJCC, and I know from than done. Learning what works discussions at the initial meeting that local input will be best, communicating it effectively, important and valued. When presented with the opportunity and accomplishing systemic changes to communicate, please take advantage of it. Let us know can be challenging. A primary what has worked in your community, and what can be done reason for this difficulty is that the at the state level to reduce obstacles for change at the local criminal justice system is complex. level. Subcommittees will be established to review certain It includes many interests and issues and will include non-council members, so consider independent agencies that need to volunteering to serve. work together to be effective. The statewide CJCC is new, but we know that the issues it A. John Voelker Creating an environment in which will tackle are entrenched. More than 40 years ago, a final these independent organizations cooperate takes time, but report of the National Commission on the Causes and can result in big dividends. This has been effectively Prevention of Violence, To Establish Justice, to Insure demonstrated by several county criminal justice Domestic Tranquility was published. It noted the following: coordinating councils (CJCC) around the state. In reviewing the operation of Wisconsin CJCCs, the National Center for “This pattern (of increasing crime and violence) State Courts identified six principles that make them suggests the existence of substantial built-in obstacles effective. A CJCC must: to change. The pervasive fragmentation of police, l Identify needs and desires court, and correctional agencies suggests that some l Include the right people catalyst is needed to bring them together. An l Be an independent structure authorized to make assumption that parallel and overlapping public decisions agencies will cooperate efficiently can no longer l Have members willing to collaborate suffice as a substitute for deliberate action to make it l Rely on data and be focused on outcomes happen in real life.” l Have funding to support the work of the CJCC The Governor signed Executive Order 65 on April 9, Let’s use the new CJCC as the catalyst to make positive creating the statewide Criminal Justice Coordinating changes in the criminal justice system. n Making progress on effective justice strategies By Shelly L. Fox, Special Projects Manager, Office of Court Operations 012 is proving to be a banner year for building effective Courts website at the following address: 2justice strategies in Wisconsin. Both inside and outside www.wicourts.gov/courts/programs/docs/ejsreport.pdf. of the court system, progress is occurring on a number of fronts. Here are a few highlights of current efforts. Statewide CJCC gets to work On April 9, Gov. Scott Walker signed Executive Order #63 NCSC report released statewide in Eau Claire, formally creating a statewide Criminal Justice The National Center for State Courts report, Effective Coordinating Council (CJCC). The group has already met Justice Strategies in Wisconsin: An Overview, was unveiled several times and has established four standing to a statewide audience in late April. The report is the result subcommittees on the following topics: Data, Benchmarks, of a joint project of the National Center for State Courts, the Public Outreach and Alternatives to Incarceration. Effective Justice Strategies Subcommittee of the Supreme The new council is a first for Wisconsin and will assist the Court’s Policy and Planning Advisory Committee (PPAC), Governor by directing, collaborating with, and coordinating and the State Justice Institute. the services of state and local governmental agencies and Director of State Courts A. John Voelker prepared a non‐governmental entities in the criminal justice system. As webcast announcing the publication of the report as well as noted in Executive Order # 63, the Council will conduct the formation of the first statewide Criminal Justice planning, research, and evaluation activities regarding the Coordinating