The Honorable Benny A. Graff, Presiding Judge
Douglas H. Johnson, Trial Court Administrator
District Court Judges: Benny Graff, Presiding Judge; Gail Hagerty; Bruce Haskell; Donald Jorgensen; Burt Riskedahl; Bruce Romanick; Thomas Schneider; and Robert O. Wefald.
Judicial Referees: Robert Freed and John Grinsteiner.
Number of Counties in District: 12
District Court Chambers: Bismarck, Mandan, Linton and Washburn.
South Central Judicial District Caseload for Calendar Years 2002 and 2003
Case Filings/ Dispositions | 2002 (F) (D) | 2003 (F) (D) | ||
Civil | 5,031 | 6,826 | 5,323 | 6,932 |
District Court
The year 2003 was a year of preparation for change in the South Central Judicial District. In October, Presiding Judge Benny A. Graff announced he would retire effective January 31, 2004. Graff was appointed district judge on February 1, 1974, by Governor Arthur A. Link. He was selected to act as presiding judge in 1976 and became chief presiding judge in 1987.
On December 23, Gov. John Hoeven announced that he had appointed Sonna Anderson to fill the judicial position to be vacated by Judge Graff.
Soon after Judge Graff announced his retirement, Doug Johnson, who had served as court administrator for the district for 11 years, announced that he had accepted a court administrator position in Omaha, Nebraska. Johnson's last day of employment with the district was to be February 2, 2004.
Judicial Referee James Purdy, who held a half-time referee position, retired early in 2003. John Grinsteiner began serving as a judicial referee in June 2003.
Lanny Serrano, who was the Director of Juvenile Court, retired February 28, 2003, after 30 years with the Juvenile Court. On March 18, 2003, Dave McGeary was appointed as the new Juvenile Court Director for the South Central Judicial District.
In 2003, the South Central Judicial District was the venue for 36 percent of North Dakota jury trials. In 2002, 40% of North Dakota jury trials were held in the South Central Judicial District. The judges of the South Central Judicial District have continued to consistently complete their work in a timely manner while presiding over their greater-than-average number of jury trials.
Judges of the district have continued their work with both adult and juvenile drug courts. At the end of 2003, 53 persons had participated in the adult drug court program during the three years it had been in operation. Twenty had graduated from the program, and 12 had failed. There were 21 current participants. Of those involved, 26 had been convicted of drug-related offenses and 27 had been convicted of alcohol-related offense. Those who completed the program had averaged 400 days in the program. Drug court participants had completed 380 hours of community service and paid $925 in restitution. They had paid $9,500 in fines, $250 in court fees and $11,825 in probation supervision fees. Judges Bruce Haskell and Gail Hagerty oversee the adult drug court.
In addition, Judge Bruce Romanick oversees a juvenile drug court program (JDC). In just over a year in operation 18 persons participated in the juvenile drug court program. Seven of the participants have graduated with three participants being dismissed for failure to complete the program. During this time program participants have completed 243 community service hours. The program continues to focus on education with all participants attending high school with one obtaining a GED while in JDC.
Juvenile Division and Judicial Referee Activities
When Dave McGeary was appointed Juvenile Court Director for the South Central Judicial District, Kerry Gullickson was promoted to a position as a court officer III. When Mr. Serrano retired, a court officer position was vacated and eventually eliminated.
In September, 2003, the juvenile court completed a management review. The purpose was twofold - to review practices in light of court rule and policy and to review procedures for possible changes. The results were positive. A few recommendations were made and implementation of those recommendations is underway.
In 2003, 1,926 juveniles were referred to juvenile court in the South Central District. The juvenile probation caseload continues to fluctuate between 30 to 45 cases per court officer. The cases appear to be more complex each year, requiring more staff time. Diversion programs available are Bismarck Police Youth Bureau; Youth Services, Mandan; Youthworks Unruly Diversion Program; Teen Court and Conferencing with Restorative Justice. Child placing agencies are county social services and North Dakota Division of Juvenile Services (DJS). Federal grant money used over the years to provide diversion programs for juvenile court will likely be eliminated or severely reduced which will impact juvenile court staff.
Full-time Referee Bob Freed and John Grinsteiner, who is a half-time referee, continue to hear primarily juvenile and child support cases. In addition, they hear small claims cases and administrative traffic hearings. The referees held hearings in 1,593 cases in 2003, and increase of 4% from 2002. The increase would have been greater if the district judges had not heard cases, which would have been assigned to a referee, in the interval between Referee Purdy's retirement and the time when Referee Grinsteiner began hearing cases.