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Bar News - February 6, 2004 New Court Committee to Tackle Master Planning By: Lisa Segal A NEW COMMITTEE established by the NH Supreme Court is attempting to identify the most pressing needs and priorities facing the judicial branch over the next five years in hopes that the courts can then work to address those needs. The Committee on Justice System Needs and Priorities was formed partially in response to an audit of the judicial branch conducted by the Legislative Budget Assistant and presented to the Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee in November. The audit report made numerous recommendations regarding the operation and administration of the state's courts. The audit recommendations spurred the Supreme Court to form a committee to formally address long- range planning, according to committee Chair Bruce Felmly, of McLane, Graf, Raulerson & Middleton. The courts have traditionally operated with an eye toward long-range planning, but haven't had a formal committee charged solely with master planning for the judicial branch.
The committee is composed of 28 members representing various levels of the courts or constituencies served by the courts, or who have particular expertise in a particular area. Committee members include: District Court Administrative Judge Ed Kelly, Probate Court Administrative Judge John Maher, Attorney General Peter Heed, New Hampshire Legal Assistance Executive Director John Tobin, NH Public Defender Executive Director Chris Keating, NH Bar Association President Russell Hilliard, NH Judicial Council Chair Nina Gardner, and Laura Kiernan, court public information officer. The rather large committee has divided into four working subcommittees, each of which is examining a variety of issues:
According to Felmly, the subcommittees are meeting "quite aggressively" and the full committee is meeting monthly in order to develop a final report by its Aug. 1, 2004 deadline. "This group is working at an unusually fast pace," said Felmly. The committee has identified a wide variety of court issues and needs, and is working to determine which are of the highest priority. "User friendliness" issues are at the forefront of the group's work, said Felmly. "The committee is heavily focused on communications and issues related to users' initial impressions of the court system - such as court security, the way courthouses are laid out and customer service issues," he said. Felmly sees the group's work as just a first step toward addressing court system needs and priorities - and believes the Supreme Court does, too. "This is a process in which this committee will work to identify and define the system's needs and abilities and begin to shape an agenda based on those. We foresee a second step in which a broader constituency would come to the table to identify the funding, et cetera, for putting that agenda into effect," Felmly said. Felmly gave as an example electronic filing. "It would be good to bring e-filing to New Hampshire's courts. Now that the committee has identified e-filing as a goal, the second step would be to develop a plan for how to do it, troubleshoot it, fund it, and address other implementation issues," he said. The committee is gathering information from a number of sources to conduct its long-range justice-system planning - including the courts and user groups. The subcommittees are the "principal vehicle for focusing these discussions," Felmly said, and are "examining a wealth of materials and input, including that from other jurisdictions." The subcommittees are also utilizing the ongoing work of other NH groups, such as the Pro Se Task Force, which just released its report (see page 24 for more on that report), and the Family Law Task Force. Individual committee members also bring the perspective of the groups they're part of - Cheshire County Clerk Barbara Hogan offers the viewpoint of the clerks of court, for example. Although it is a long-range planning group, the committee's work is to address court needs and priorities only for the next five years. Planning beyond that could be difficult because of the rapid changes that take place, particularly in technology, Felmly said. "Changes confront the system faster than we expect. For example, one year is an awfully long time in terms of emerging technology." According to Felmly, one of the goals of this committee is to develop a coordinated planning system for the judicial branch. He said the court system doesn't necessarily need just one body making decisions relative to planning, but it does need to coordinate system-wide planning. "The issue is how the justice system is going to organize itself to adopt and perpetuate best practices as identified in the system. We need a clear picture as to where to centralize those decisions," he said. "The bottom line is that this committee is working to identify what's right, needed and would be efficient for the judicial system of our state." Felmly said the committee welcomes input and ideas about its work, and encourages attorneys and others to submit "their best, discreet ideas for a court system that is user-friendly and accessible for all." To offer your input, contact Felmly at 628-1448 or via e-mail at Bruce.Felmly@mclane.com. Court Needs Committee at MYM REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NH Supreme Court Committee on Justice System Needs and Priorities will be available at the NHBA Midyear Membership Meeting on Friday, Feb. 13, to discuss ideas and answer questions about their work. Committee Chair Bruce Felmly encourages MYM attendees to share their input with the committee. |
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