If you have issues viewing or accessing this file contact us at NCJRS.gov. ~, I '~\ \ ,'] lL r'f U !~ .J (f\ 15) ' '.\ \f1 \ \ Ii !I " \ 1\ I 11 fl ),l'l rt \r I' ! ' I \.1._) ~J "i \J ...... - L./ Lffi / t"r ,~ ~ .C;;':' - .oJ.';' C: '" () tl~j fJ'. (,\ pi :1. '," f -I: : ~'J n I'~ 1,,' (' I, i , , , ; " i , , Ii i' ~ I, I . $ ~; ( ~> (.' ;( ,] ;. 8~; q:: ij (}, q~ ~ ~1 " vd; ~S ~~ ~') r.E}rtiH]~~ '- ,. f){ I'· i 0....:1 ••>0 oj ::~] e O!iHl1l ~; , ,HHl f.hs Il(j~ rc~;ebll: ~ hr\:) ld1 ~~a~ ~. [1 ;;itHHl III 1HliH~iG~j 81 ~iln U .:I, Ih,;rlcH~m !)~ hi if"D u.~. DEPARli\1HH Of HjSHC~ U\W HUORCEMHH ASSISIJU~CE JHH~H4IS'Hunm~J NATIONAL CRIMiNAL JUSTiCE R[fH~ENCE SE~VICE WASHlt~GTO~t D.C. 20531 i I m e d "-.~-...,;- .i , j , .1 i", ,'j .1 ;j - '.j I j , . , "'. ANALYSIS OF ELECTRONIC RECORDING - IN THE ~lAGISTR/UES DIVISION - ,. ;.- , ~" ADA COUNTY IDAHO DISTRICT COURT , . " '''F. , ., . I " I . J .~ , ' , - I < .: '"- ~ " j " 'iii ~ - 1 February, 1974 ~ .' ',.. ',1. I ',< I '... j .... i . I Consultant: 'j Ernest H. Short '. NC,JRS MAR 81977 \ \ CRIMINAL COURTS TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROJECT \ 2139 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20007 , .0'<, " (202) 686-3800 '. j 1 I Law Enforcement Assistance Administration Contract Number: J-LEAA-043-72 TABLE OF COrnErlTS Page 1. INTRODUCTION . II. ANALYSIS OF EXISTING SITUATIOil 2 A. THE t·1AGISTRATES DI VISION . 2 This report ,·ms prepared in' conjunction B. RECORDING PROCEEDINGS 4 with the Institute's Criminal Courts Technical Assistance Project) under a III. RE COtYi~jEN Di\ TI ON S . 8 contract Hith the 18\'7 Enforcement Assistance Administration of the U.S. A. EQUlpr~ENT . 9 Department of Justice. B. OPERATIONS. ' .. 13 Organizations undertaking such projects · under FC:!deral Government sponsorship nre C. COURTROQJ'1 ACOUSTI CS 14· encouraged to express their mm judge::cnt freely. Therefore) points of vieu or D. TAPE STORAGE AND INDEXING 14 opinions stated in this report do not necessarily rGprcsent the official pOBition i, IV. SUf1jf',1ARY . 15 of the Department of Justice. The I · contractor is solely responsible for the r factual accuracy of all material presented JI in this publication. FIGURES Jw.-_______• __ •__ • ___;a~____ ~~~"':rtn.=' 1. IDAHO JUDICIAL SYSTEM . 3 , 2. PRESENT EQUIPMENT LIST. 6 3. COMPARISON OF EQUIPMENT · . • .' 110 • 11 APPENDICES A. EXCERPTS OF IDAHO COURT RULES PERTAINmG TO COURT REPORTING B. PRICES PAID FOR OLD EQUIPMENT C. PRESENT EQUI P~1ENT /COURTROOi~ CONFI GURATIONS D. SPECIFICATIONS LIST FOR THE NEBRASKA TAPE RECORDER SYSTEM E. NEBRASKA'S MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR SERVICE AGREEMENT ,.""""'---------------"""""'~---".~ ---------- 1. INTRODUCTION The Magistrutes Division of the Ada COl!l1ty I Idaho, District Court has recently initiated actions to improve the timely and tlc<.:urnte prcparution of its records of proceedings. These actions W8re prompted by "cases bcdng 1 dismis sed beca use trunscripts could not be produced. II Since in- house resources were not available to provide a review and analysis of the Ada County Magistrates Division IS <.:ourt recording needs, the Director of the Administrative Office of the Idaho Courts requested technical assistance through the Law Enforcement llssistance Administration Contr?ct Number J-LEAA 043-72 to American University. The stated purpose of the assistance was "to assess the feasibility of using electronic recording equipment in 2 Idahol s Fourth Judicial District. " This report documents the technical assistance provided by The American University in response to the Administrative Director of the Idaho Courts I request. During a two day site visit, the Ada County Magistrates l courtrooms were examined for acoustical qualities and equipment placement; existing recording equipment wa s documented and tested; district judges, magistrates, und court personnel were interviewed, to include extensive discus sions with the Fourth Judicial District Trial Court Administrator; telephone in-::.erviews with locul recording equipment vendors were conducted; r:ase and appeal data were gathered from the Administmtive Office of the Idaho Courts; and statutes 1 Discussions with \tVarren H. Gilmore I District T1'iu1 Court Administrator, Judicial District 4. 2Ms . Caroline S. Cooper, Research Associate', Institute for Studies in Justice and Soc1u1 Behavior I the American University I in a letter to Ernest H. Short, January 7, 1974. ,',"'1 , " _Md :!nn11M l£E._.- &AM &.~<Kf <,- ~~!:,:-~~:.~ C~";PT I C"licf oustic·J and 14 A!13CC!.UtO ,TU3tlcea. TQrf.l;) of 6 ycr...ro .T'~JICTAL COTr.,CIL w nf~!;'r lK'!1- rart1:';fln. II t-1urc'l c loctionJ \11th tJ:t~~sorod to!'C!). r '::JIU.l1Ulr'.r retircr.;:::nt ut ugo 65. ;·:tlndutory- rotll'o:::o.'1t at 7 !~c:::bcr3: {<50 7). Chiof Justico, cr~i~~n 3 Attorneys (cno of V!:O":l r.:uzt be n district Cri5ir.o.l Jurisdiction in: j udF;e) ----Arrointcd by Do~~J or CO~3=io~crs of C~u1:::s n~~lnst (nd"/isor;r opiniona) State Id!lho Stnte fu::- i.t1.th cC!1!3cnt of" ~{!:1:lte (II :';~i7..!l of !.~1;.r.:cnr:'J.S 3 l;on-:ittorr-.'lY::: ~rlts of C~rtornri ----Ap;;ointcd by GO'forner ;rith acvice end "";r!:ts of frchlbltlon !! FJlb<!lls Corp,m ccr. sent of !/.!no. tCl Tor7.s: years, te=ws. Appellate Jurisdiction in: 6 stG&scrcd {I) ,'\p;x!sls:frGm fl.")al judg::1ent in Distriot Courtn. D.lties: (1) C(;:~Ctlcts stllCic::: &: !;'~es recc:::r ~~r.ca~lcn3 to ~6islature ~d t2) G~Jcr3 of ~~blic utilities CC~83ion and S·JP~I!;:-.~ C(·~rt40 ~~~3tr1al Acci~frnt Cc~z5ion. (2) R"cc:;:r.'!r.b 1l~ pcint""~r:t3 to Govc'rncr t'J noll vec;;nciC3. (3) B(C0.;-'::·:-:-I:·.!~ di!.'ci'Pl~~(!1' rc~.ov!ll 0;;- r:}tir::.:;:;:-nt of JU;:;t1.C3S 2."1:1 J' i juJocs. DIS1'RICT COUR7S 2~ Jt.:.d,;es presently au~horiz()d. Tm:":l of 1} yc,?l'S after non-pnrtisal1 election vithL"1 the .1udioll1l district. Volu.'1tary rctirc::Y.!nt at ago 65. KLll1dc.tCr"1 rotirc'Xnt at fiSO 70. Origi."~l Ju.risdiction over all Cs'!:.e3 includL"1.3: I (1), ?~r3cnal iPJU.~1 & other 1·!!.GI~Tnf.. TE3 DIVISI0;iS torts Gontrac';:;s (~ Judges authorizod. Tc~s: Init1nl 2 yellrs upon appoin~~cnt by J)Cc~tic relations district ~~gi3trato3 cOTI~3sion; ouoooqucnt 4 year te~3 by c~~Ly I"clcnie3 eloction on record ~'~f~l [03 t-c0n'/ictlon revie-. ~6 l!alica3 ccrpus Jurisdiction, Lcnc~nlly: Appellate Jurzidiction: Civil actions to ~1000** s:.~,,-~,:, CL,\TI·~3 ~~"Z·Zi7S Forciblo cntr'7 ::c cetal.ncl's (1) A~pc~13 fr0m :~strateo t~~ L1c~3 to $lrc5Ccn ~Ql O~ ;.!ng1:J'tre.tes sit f'cr ~:::.ry.ll Llv13io..1 pcr:Jo:!,~l r:or.crty cln1~s (2) Ap;.x!_'ll::s i'rora Stute egonoiea (4) J'rcc'! to an1 Ii<.!:-':. of lliccoctlt Juric·llctlo:1 lic:d tc1 to (!oLd 30-3......-..03- eC::-Gto!3 c~·,t11 oct!cn:.! up to $;00 (3) Ar;,"'l13 !'ro-:l r.:~,'lll Cluir.:!l ,juv n nl1 e f':'OCCOa!-'13:7, & CVt!r tl'!f~"1!·3~:!r~"o ~·ithln D~~/lrL:!'.·;:l3 i-l1:"l'.!t·:;:;!Jr:o~..J CC,>.!!lty or lC~!.lt1c;) {¥l /'u"ro[!·t v(lrl"3.nts; nCa1'"ChOD 1;0 attcr::':~~"'5 ollvA··_~.;J :in end cJ]lzar".l!l D";"~'111 cl.2!::~~ l:~t1c~!3 (8) Pr·oll:n. ipl:rl:"~!J for r.robcbl0 i~o jUl"'j' t:",in15 in (:;:.311 l C[i',lce on fcl,)ny CQ:;?l;Unt:; cl~lt':s C~'lr.l'~!3. .,t.,.-~< $"500l' lor~ rr.aglSl.[utes....' A I inCicat03 court to "hlcll cppollln lITO U::kc::l FIGURE 1 ~ '_-"'::_-_,",,_-';~·_::_"":;:"_·_-';'!~·H_~':'~_":!,·~'.'~::::"~-:"'''::-~~::='::':':---=- -;:,~~~.:;..::.,,:·;-:;t:.',,~:·'~:::"~.::.:r~~';';-:~l·:';'-::;::::-;·~ :,,~ ....• ,..- -'--~·-~-~~-:::-:~~-4-:~7""':-::~':- -.J. (~~~ ': "'i 1"" Tho district courts huvo npPQllate jurisdiction in casas appculod from th(: rnugji:~trcttos division and from i:lgoncies and boards (Figure I, p. 3). 8t(ltutO requiron m(tqit~trute procc'edi.nqs to bo recorded- A vorlxltim 1'ocord of t1w proceodings and evidence at trials beforo u mu~Jistnlto shall be m,lilltaineJd either by oloctricLil dl~viccs or by stcnogruphic mcuns, as the muqistmtc may din~ct( but if any purty to the (lction rcql.J[)st stcnoqr<1pldc n.:porting of the proceedings, the reporting shall bo done stenogmphically, Tho requesting party shall pay the costs of reporting the proceedings', 5 Portions of Rules of the Court for the M<lEistratcJ Division of the District and Di strJ-ct Cou£!J CivUAppel1nte Rules I and Crirninnl A.ppelluto Rules , , Wh1ch are applicable to court reporting in the Tdaho Courts a're included in Appendix A( Excerpts of Id~l.ho Court nules Pertaining to Court Heporting. Five full-time magistrates are 10catE)d in Ada County; three of their courtroom s are located in t Ada County Courthouse und two courtrooms arc locatC"d approximately L _00 miles from the County Courthouse (these two are traffic courts). In addition the District Trial Court Administrator fills- in as a magistrate \'\7h8n needed; a magistrate from Idaho City, every Vlednesda)7, and a magistrate from Cascade f approximately twice a month, arc brought into Ada County. \'\Then add.it:i'::' 0.1 magistrates arc used I unoccupied District Courtrooms, or sometimes jury rooms I are used for hearings or trials. B. Recording Proceedings 1. History On October 22, 1971 r the Ada County Board of Commi.s sioners entered into un agreement with a district court reporter lito provide reporting, transcribing and reo-recording services for the Magistrate Court of Ada County 5Idaho Code Section 1- 2212 I ! -4- I- , .