2016 Trends in State Courts Special Focus on Family Law and Court Communications Trusted Leadership. Proven Solutions. Better Courts. www.ncsc.org Board of Directors, National Center for State Courts David Gilbertson, Chief Justice, Deborah J. Daniels, Esq., Krieg Devault, Supreme Court of South Dakota, Chair Indianapolis, Indiana Patricia W. Griffin, State Court Administrator, Michael G. Heavican, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Delaware, Vice-Chair Supreme Court of Nebraska John D. Minton, Jr., Chief Justice, Stephanie E. Hess, Director of Court Services, Supreme Court of Kentucky, Chair-Elect Supreme Court of Ohio Arthur W. Pepin, Director, Administrative Office Elizabeth P. Hines, Judge, 15th District Court, of New Mexico Courts, Vice Chair-Elect Ann Arbor, Michigan Mary Campbell McQueen, President, National Center Alphonse F. La Porta, Ambassador (ret.), for State Courts, Williamsburg, Virginia Washington, D.C. Jerome B. Abrams, District Court Judge, Simon M. Lorne, Esq., Vice Chairman & Chief Hastings, Minnesota Legal Officer, Millennium Management, New York, New York Ronald B. Adrine, Presiding Judge, Municipal Court, Cleveland, Ohio Gary W. Lynch, Judge, Court of Appeals, Springfield, Missouri Elena R. Baca, Esq., Paul Hastings, Los Angeles, California Anne M. Milgram, Distinguished Scholar in Residence, NYU School of Law, New York Stephen H. Baker, Judge, Superior Court, Shasta County, California Maureen O’Connor, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Ohio S. Jack Balagia, Jr., Esq., Vice President & General Counsel, Exxon Mobil Corp., Irving, Texas Peggy A. Quince, Justice, Supreme Court of Florida Luther J. Battiste III, Esq., Johnson, Toal & Battiste, Columbia, South Carolina Lee F. Satterfield, Chief Judge, District of Columbia Superior Court Matthew L. Benefiel, Court Administrator, 9th Judicial Circuit, Orlando, Florida Clifford M. Sloan, Esq., Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Washington, DC David K. Boyd, State Court Administrator, Supreme Court of Iowa Todd A. Smith, Esq., Power Rogers & Smith, Chicago, Illinois Steven D. Canterbury, Administrative Director, West Virginia Supreme Court B Trends in State Courts 2016 Trusted Leadership. Proven Solutions. Better Courts. 2016 Trends in State Courts Special Focus on Family Law and Court Communications Edited by: Carol R. Flango Deborah W. Smith Charles F. Campbell Neal B. Kauder Trusted Leadership. Proven Solutions. Better Courts. www.ncsc.org i This report is part of the National Center for State Courts’ “Report on Trends in the State Courts” series. Opinions herein are those of the authors, not necessarily of the National Center for State Courts. Copyright 2016 National Center for State Courts 300 Newport Avenue Williamsburg, VA 23185-4147 Web site: www.ncsc.org ISBN: 978-0-89656-305-6 Suggested Citation C. Flango, D. Smith, C. Campbell, and N. Kauder, eds. Trends in State Courts 2016 (Williamsburg, VA: National Center for State Courts, 2016). ii Trends in State Courts 2016 2016 Review Board Trends in State Courts 2016 articles have been through a rigorous review process. The members of the 2016 Review Board have contributed countless hours to providing valuable feedback on each submission. The patience and commitment of the review board and authors as they work through this process are greatly appreciated: James L. Adams, Trial Court Administrator, Karen Kringlie, Esq., Director of Juvenile Court, 1st Judicial District, Oregon (ret.) Admin Unit Two, Fargo, North Dakota Howard H. Berchtold, Jr., Trial Court Administrator, Hon. Brenda S. Loftin, St. Louis County Circuit Atlantic City, New Jersey Court, Missouri Hon. Kevin S. Burke, District Judge, Brian J. McLaughlin, Adjunct Faculty, Department Hennepin County, Minnesota of Public Administration, Villanova University Heather Nann Collins, Court Planner, Norman Meyer, Clerk of Court, U.S. Bankruptcy Connecticut Judicial Branch, Office of the Court, District of New Mexico Executive Director of the Superior Court Operations Division Neil Nesheim, Area Court Administrator, First Judicial District, Juneau, Alaska Janet G. Cornell, Court Administrator, Scottsdale City Court, Arizona (ret.) Rory Perry, Clerk of Court, Supreme Court of Appeals, West Virginia Jude Del Preore, Trial Court Administrator, Superior Court, Burlington Vicinage, Alison H. Sonntag, Chief Deputy Clerk, New Jersey Kitsap County Clerk’s Office, Washington Elizabeth Evans, Court Operations Manager, Suzanne H. Stinson, Court Administrator, Arizona Supreme Court 26th Judicial District Court, Louisiana Claudia C. Johnson, Court Collaboration Circuit Robert D. Wessels, County Court Manager, County Rider, Pro Bono Net Criminal Courts at Law, Houston, Texas (ret.) Peter Kiefer, Deputy Court Administrator, Robert A. Zastany, Executive Director, Maricopa Superior Court, Arizona Circuit Court of Lake County, Illinois 2016 Review Board iii Acknowledgments Trends in State Courts 2016 was truly a team effort. Without the support and dedication of the court community this publication would not have been possible. The editors would like to thank VisualResearch, Inc. —Neal B. Kauder, Patrick K. Davis, and Kim Small— for data presentation, design, and printing of Trends. The Trends in State Courts 2016 editorial staff also recognize LexisNexis for their ongoing provision of online legal resources and research support. Knowledge and Information Services Staff Jesse Rutledge, Vice President, External Affairs Carol R. Flango, Director, KIS Jarret W. Hann, KIS Analyst Gregory S. Hurley, Senior KIS Analyst Blake P. Kavanagh, KIS Analyst William E. Raftery, KIS Analyst Deborah W. Smith, Senior KIS Analyst Cheryl L. Wright, Program Specialist iv Trends in State Courts 2016 Table of Contents Preface Public Legal Information as Common Mary Campbell McQueen vii Ground for the Justice Community 61 David Pantzer Keynote Should I Tweet That? Court Communications Recent Sentencing Reform Initiatives to Reduce in the 21st Century 67 Recidivism, Promote Fairness, and Control Costs 1 Hon. Jorge Labarga, Roger K. Warren Hon. Nina Ashenafi Richardson, and Tricia Knox Family Law Issues Alaska Court System Legal Notice Website 75 Maryland’s Family Divisions Alyce Roberts and Stacey Marz Are a Model for Change 11 Barbara A. Babb, Gloria H. Danziger, Overall Court Improvements and Michele H. Hong-Polansky Michigan’s Performance Measures Trends in U.S. Adoptions 2008-2012 17 Improve Public Service 81 Matthew Shuman Jennifer Warner and Laura Hutzel Parenting Coordination and the Courts 25 Meeting the Challenges of High-Volume Serpil Ergun Civil Dockets 89 Hannah E. M. Lieberman and The Interstate Compact for the Placement Paula Hannaford-Agor of Children and the National Electronic Interstate Compact Enterprise 31 Revitalizing the Jury 97 Diana Graski Victor E. Flango A Proactive Approach to Self-Assessment Court-Funding Issues Raised in the Juvenile Justice System 39 by Detroit’s Bankruptcy 105 Hon. Mark A. Ingram and Kari L. Harp Diane M. Hartmus and Julie Walters Opening Courts to the Public Applying Outcomes Management to Client Services in the Lake County Circuit Court 111 Awareness, Adjustment, and Perseverance Robert J. Verborg and Robert Zastany Are the Keys to Communication 45 Hon. Kevin S. Burke Adaptive Reuse of Old Buildings for New Court Functions in Polk County, Iowa 121 A Contrarian View of Two Key Issues Gordon M. Griller in Court Records Privacy and Access 53 Tom Clarke Table of Contents v vi Trends in State Courts 2016 Preface President, Mary Campbell McQueen National Center for State Courts During a hotly contested national election year, many people feel either more connected to or more alienated from their government. Amid all the enthusiasm of televised campaign rallies, the endless analysis of pundits, and claims that this is “the most important election ever,” voters can easily lose sight of one thing: People will have more contact with our nation’s state courts than they ever will with the White House or Capitol Hill. Courts apply the laws passed and enforced by the legislative and executive branches, and courts decide civil disputes that people cannot settle among themselves. State courts directly affect the lives of those who enter them. Each year, the National Center for State Courts’ Trends in State Courts series examines how courts influence the lives of people and how societal trends affect the work of the courts. This year’s edition, with its focus on family law and communications within the courts and with the public, is no exception. Criminal sentencing is one example of how court decisions can affect not only the lives of convicted defendants, but also the quality of life of the general public. In this year’s keynote article, Roger Warren, NCSC’s President Emeritus and a retired superior-court judge, traces the development of increasingly punitive criminal sentencing and discusses how the varying impacts of “tough-on-crime” policies affect our society—for example, the relationship between criminal justice policy and recidivism. He then addresses how evidence-based sentencing reforms, at the federal and state levels, are tackling this issue. Courts also impact children and families, and Trends 2016 includes a number of articles on the vital area of family law. The authors provide both a national and a local perspective on how courts affect families. For example: the use of parenting coordinators for post-divorce-decree parenting disputes Maryland’s family divisions and how they meet the legal and non-legal needs of families court leadership and juvenile