| 1010800103 | What actions, if any, did your court take in FY 2015-2016 to reduce delays and improve case management? | Actions taken in FY 2015-2016 to reduce delays and improve case management. |
(Hover on the chart for more information and click on the chart to see which courts chose that response.)
Actions taken in FY 2015-2016 to reduce delays and improve case management.
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Additional actions taken by the courts to address this objective
14th JDC | The 14th JDC continued the appointment of the criminal commissioner who conducted felony arraignments, traffic court, misdemeanor court and misdemeanor trials. The court also continued to implement aiSmartbench case management software, to help judges gain access to better information from other agencies. The court continued working with the Criminal Justice Planning Council, consisting of the District Attorney, Sheriff, Clerk of Court, Public Defender, and Chief of the Lake Charles Police Department, to implement improvements in processing criminal matters. Finally, the court continued conducting case management and pretrial conferences at the correctional center, to alleviate problem of inmate transport, and maintained universal calendaring to encourage and monitor use of extra court dates. |
15th JDC | The Supreme Court provided the 15th JDC with a grant to fund the acquisition and installation of the aiSmartBench case management software. The clerks of court objected to the court's request to grant aiSmartBench read-only access of the data in the clerks' civil and criminal databases, citing security concerns and a desire to maintain the integrity of the data. As a result the project stalled and the court lost the grant funding. This project was stalled by a legal question: who owns the records of court proceedings? Are these records "court records" or "clerk of court" records? These questions must be resolved by either legislation or court decision. |
16th JDC | The court conducted review hearings to better monitor and manage criminal cases. Additional criminal dates were added to the court calendar as needed to facilitate the current case load and reduce delays in the processing of criminal cases. Effective January 2016, one additional court date was added for misdemeanor arraignments and one additional misdemeanor trial date was added, per month.
The judges maintained a policy to provide for protective order service to be made in open court and to be reflected in court minutes. The judges also maintained a policy regarding the allotment of non-support appeals to ensure timely and uniform processing throughout the district.
The court maintained an allotment system for juvenile cases which created two juvenile sections in each parish, one for Child in Need of Care cases and one for juvenile delinquent and Families in Need of Services cases. Juvenile court dockets are assigned to one judge in each parish, an initiative that results in greater continuity of adjudication, better judicial oversight and improved proficiency. CASA advocates were authorized and encouraged to attend 72-hour hearings in Child In Need of Care cases to help facilitate the appointment of curators as soon as possible.
The court maintained a Family Court Program in Iberia, St. Martin and St. Mary Parishes. Three full time hearing officers conducted pre-trial conferences in all family court matters. Hearing officers in all three parishes conducted intake procedures and conferences between involved parties and attorneys in all matters concerning divorce, child custody and visitation, child support, spousal support, use and occupancy of the home and of movables, community property, and petitions for protective orders. The hearing officers make recommendations for the continued development and expansion of the program.
The Family Court Programs in each parish decreased the time from filing to hearing officer conferences by expediting the family court cases with the clerk of court, consistently setting the conference 21-to 28 days after filing, unless the attorney’s calendar does not allow for it. The court strives to ensure that hearing officer conferences are held within 21 days of the date of filing.
In domestic cases involving individuals from out-of-state, St. Mary Parish held the hearing officer conference on the same date as the court date, prior to the rule so that the out-of-state parties, in most cases, only have to travel to Louisiana once. In addition, St. Mary Parish Family Court made every effort to resolve the case prior to trial and allowed an out-of-state party’s appearance for the Hearing Officer Conference, with approval from the Judge, to be facilitated by Skype or telephone. The papers would then be mailed to the out-of-state party for signature and return to the court. Both consent judgments and hearing officer recommendations are often handled in this manner in St. Mary Parish to eliminate the need for an out-of-state party to make a personal appearance and the costs associated therewith.
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17th JDC | The court encouraged and assisted the exchange of data between the sheriff, district attorney and clerk of court, to reduce duplication of data entry. |
29th JDC | The court contracted with mediators/facilitators to assist in contentious domestic cases. |
34th JDC | The court worked with the district attorney on criminal cases, to organize a more efficient docket and move cases faster. |
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| Response | Response_Court |
| Additional actions taken by the courts to address this objective | 6 courts (14th JDC, 15th JDC, 16th JDC, 17th JDC, 29th JDC, 34th JDC) |
| Continued to address this objective through the actions indicated below, or implemented the following new actions in FY 2015-2016 to address this objective as indicated below: | 42 courts (1st JDC, 2nd JDC, 3rd JDC, 4th JDC, 6th JDC, 7th JDC, 8th JDC, 9th JDC, 10th JDC, 11th JDC, 12th JDC, 14th JDC, 15th JDC, 16th JDC, 17th JDC, 20th JDC, 21st JDC, 22nd JDC, 23rd JDC, 24th JDC, 25th JDC, 26th JDC, 27th JDC, 28th JDC, 29th JDC, 30th JDC, 32nd JDC, 33rd JDC, 34th JDC, 35th JDC, 36th JDC, 37th JDC, 38th JDC, 40th JDC, 42nd JDC, Caddo Parish Juvenile Court, East Baton Rouge Family Court, East Baton Rouge Juvenile Court, Jefferson Parish Juvenile Court, Orleans Parish Civil District Court, Orleans Parish Criminal District Court, Orleans Parish Juvenile Court) |
| Did not address during FY 2015-2016 | 6 courts (5th JDC, 13th JDC, 18th JDC, 19th JDC, 31st JDC, 39th JDC) |
| Employed case managers to expedite court processes | 3 courts (1st JDC, 4th JDC, Orleans Parish Juvenile Court) |
| Encouraged alternative dispute resolution | 20 courts (1st JDC, 2nd JDC, 4th JDC, 6th JDC, 7th JDC, 9th JDC, 12th JDC, 14th JDC, 21st JDC, 23rd JDC, 24th JDC, 26th JDC, 29th JDC, 30th JDC, 36th JDC, 38th JDC, 40th JDC, 42nd JDC, East Baton Rouge Family Court, Orleans Parish Civil District Court) |
| Implemented or maintained the use of pre-trial conferences | 41 courts (1st JDC, 2nd JDC, 3rd JDC, 4th JDC, 6th JDC, 7th JDC, 8th JDC, 9th JDC, 10th JDC, 11th JDC, 12th JDC, 14th JDC, 15th JDC, 16th JDC, 17th JDC, 20th JDC, 21st JDC, 22nd JDC, 23rd JDC, 24th JDC, 25th JDC, 26th JDC, 28th JDC, 29th JDC, 30th JDC, 32nd JDC, 33rd JDC, 34th JDC, 35th JDC, 36th JDC, 37th JDC, 38th JDC, 40th JDC, 42nd JDC, Caddo Parish Juvenile Court, East Baton Rouge Family Court, East Baton Rouge Juvenile Court, Jefferson Parish Juvenile Court, Orleans Parish Civil District Court, Orleans Parish Criminal District Court, Orleans Parish Juvenile Court) |
| Implemented or maintained time standards for case processing | 14 courts (4th JDC, 9th JDC, 10th JDC, 12th JDC, 15th JDC, 22nd JDC, 36th JDC, 42nd JDC, Caddo Parish Juvenile Court, East Baton Rouge Family Court, East Baton Rouge Juvenile Court, Jefferson Parish Juvenile Court, Orleans Parish Criminal District Court, Orleans Parish Juvenile Court) |
| Improved communication with police, sheriffs, and/or marshals | 34 courts (2nd JDC, 3rd JDC, 6th JDC, 7th JDC, 8th JDC, 9th JDC, 10th JDC, 11th JDC, 12th JDC, 17th JDC, 20th JDC, 21st JDC, 22nd JDC, 23rd JDC, 25th JDC, 26th JDC, 27th JDC, 28th JDC, 29th JDC, 30th JDC, 32nd JDC, 33rd JDC, 34th JDC, 35th JDC, 36th JDC, 38th JDC, 40th JDC, 42nd JDC, Caddo Parish Juvenile Court, East Baton Rouge Family Court, East Baton Rouge Juvenile Court, Orleans Parish Civil District Court, Orleans Parish Criminal District Court, Orleans Parish Juvenile Court) |
| Improved docketing and scheduling | 30 courts (2nd JDC, 6th JDC, 7th JDC, 8th JDC, 9th JDC, 10th JDC, 11th JDC, 12th JDC, 17th JDC, 21st JDC, 22nd JDC, 23rd JDC, 24th JDC, 26th JDC, 27th JDC, 28th JDC, 29th JDC, 30th JDC, 32nd JDC, 33rd JDC, 34th JDC, 36th JDC, 38th JDC, 40th JDC, 42nd JDC, Caddo Parish Juvenile Court, East Baton Rouge Family Court, Orleans Parish Civil District Court, Orleans Parish Criminal District Court, Orleans Parish Juvenile Court) |
| Improved the manual system of case processing | 12 courts (6th JDC, 8th JDC, 10th JDC, 12th JDC, 14th JDC, 17th JDC, 23rd JDC, 32nd JDC, 33rd JDC, 35th JDC, East Baton Rouge Family Court, Orleans Parish Juvenile Court) |
| Installed or maintained an automated case allotment system | 22 courts (1st JDC, 4th JDC, 7th JDC, 9th JDC, 10th JDC, 16th JDC, 21st JDC, 22nd JDC, 24th JDC, 26th JDC, 27th JDC, 29th JDC, 33rd JDC, 36th JDC, 42nd JDC, Caddo Parish Juvenile Court, East Baton Rouge Family Court, East Baton Rouge Juvenile Court, Jefferson Parish Juvenile Court, Orleans Parish Civil District Court, Orleans Parish Criminal District Court, Orleans Parish Juvenile Court) |
| Installed or maintained an automated case management system | 13 courts (4th JDC, 9th JDC, 10th JDC, 17th JDC, 24th JDC, 26th JDC, 36th JDC, Caddo Parish Juvenile Court, East Baton Rouge Family Court, East Baton Rouge Juvenile Court, Jefferson Parish Juvenile Court, Orleans Parish Civil District Court, Orleans Parish Juvenile Court) |
| Planned the development of an automated case management system | 3 courts (26th JDC, 36th JDC, East Baton Rouge Family Court) |
| Took steps to reduce cases under advisement | 20 courts (2nd JDC, 6th JDC, 7th JDC, 9th JDC, 10th JDC, 14th JDC, 17th JDC, 22nd JDC, 25th JDC, 26th JDC, 28th JDC, 29th JDC, 30th JDC, 35th JDC, 36th JDC, 38th JDC, 42nd JDC, East Baton Rouge Family Court, Orleans Parish Civil District Court, Orleans Parish Juvenile Court) |
| Used docket status reports | 12 courts (1st JDC, 4th JDC, 9th JDC, 14th JDC, 22nd JDC, 24th JDC, 32nd JDC, 35th JDC, 36th JDC, 40th JDC, East Baton Rouge Family Court, Orleans Parish Criminal District Court) |
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