An Analysis of Felony Case Management in Two Rural Oregon Counties Institute for Court Management Court Executive Development Program 2008 – 2009 Phase III Project Amy Bonkosky Trial Court Administrator Oregon’s 22nd Judicial District Crook & Jefferson Counties ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This project could not have been completed without the help, support, and patience of many. First, I would like to thank those that helped me. Thank you to my assistant, Kathy Cardin, for the endless hours she spent compiling data, verifying data and proofreading. Thank you to Jay Rettig, my information technology specialist, for the numerous hours he spent running queries to obtain a minimum starting point of data. Thank you to Jeanette Schehen for her work on the caseflow charts. I would also like to thank both those that participated in the survey and those that pre-tested the survey. Second, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to those that supported me. Thank you to my Presiding Judge, George W. Neilson, for his support. Both his public support of this project and his willingness to make this project our district’s number one strategic priority in 2008 is greatly appreciated. Without his support the likelihood of this project having a future impact would be minimal at best. I would also like to thank my advisor, Dr. Geoff Gallas, for his keen eye to detail and his constructive guidance throughout the project. In addition, I sincerely appreciate the assistance of Joan Cochet, Library Specialist and Toni Grainer, Education Specialist at the National Center for State Courts for their support and assistance. Most importantly, I would like to thank my son, Zane, for his patience and the personal sacrifices he made while I spent many hours on evenings, weekends, and during school vacation weeks working on the project. Page 2 of 99 Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .............................................................................................................. 2 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS .......................................................................................................... 6 LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................................... 7 LIST OF APPENDICES ................................................................................................................. 9 ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................. 10 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 13 Demographics ........................................................................................................................... 13 Challenges and Opportunities ................................................................................................... 16 Prison .................................................................................................................................... 16 eCourt .................................................................................................................................... 17 Transitions............................................................................................................................. 17 Time to Disposition............................................................................................................... 18 Active Management .............................................................................................................. 19 Additional Resources ............................................................................................................ 19 Project Goals ............................................................................................................................ 20 LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................................. 22 Court Caseflow ......................................................................................................................... 22 Background of Caseflow Management .................................................................................. 22 Standards ............................................................................................................................... 23 Caseflow Management.......................................................................................................... 26 Effective Caseflow Management ............................................................................................ 29 Literature Summary ................................................................................................................ 34 Page 3 of 99 METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................................................... 36 Statistical Review...................................................................................................................... 36 Case Reporting Procedures ................................................................................................... 36 Data Collection Tools ........................................................................................................... 37 Data Cleansing ...................................................................................................................... 38 CourTools ............................................................................................................................. 39 Survey of Bar/Bench ............................................................................................................... 39 FINDINGS .................................................................................................................................... 41 Data Cleansing .......................................................................................................................... 41 CourTool #2 – Clearance Rates ................................................................................................ 43 CourTool #3 – Time to Disposition .......................................................................................... 43 CourTool #4 – Age of Active Pending Caseload...................................................................... 44 CourTool #5 – Trial Date Certainty .......................................................................................... 46 CourTool #5 - Trial Date Certainty Slowest 10% .................................................................... 46 Survey Results .......................................................................................................................... 48 Time to Disposition/Goals .................................................................................................... 48 Judicial Commitment ............................................................................................................ 55 Backlog/Inventory Control ................................................................................................... 60 Caseflow Management.......................................................................................................... 65 Findings of the Slowest Ten Percent ........................................................................................ 70 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ....................................................................... 73 Final Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 80 ILLUSTRATIONS ....................................................................................................................... 82 Page 4 of 99 APPENDICES .............................................................................................................................. 90 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................. 98 Page 5 of 99 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1-Felony Case Flow Page 1 of 8........................................................................................ 82 Figure 2-Felony Case Flow Page 2 of 8........................................................................................ 83 Figure 3-Felony Case Flow Page 3 of 8........................................................................................ 84 Figure 4-Felony Case Flow Page 4 of 8........................................................................................ 85 Figure 5-Felony Case Flow Page 5 of 8........................................................................................ 86 Figure 6-Felony Case Flow Page 6 of 8........................................................................................ 87 Figure 7-Felony Case Flow Page 7 of 8........................................................................................ 88 Figure 8-Felony Case Flow Page 8 of 8........................................................................................ 89 Page 6 of 99 LIST OF TABLES Table 1-2007 Case Filed Trend Data ............................................................................................ 15 Table 2-Cases Per Authorized Judicial Position ........................................................................... 16 Table 3-22nd Judicial District Felony Goals to Disposition ........................................................