N.D. Supreme CourtNorth Dakota Courts Annual Report 2005
Advisory Committees of the North Dakota Judicial System
In the North Dakota judicial system, a system of committees has been established to develop new ideas and evaluate proposals for improving public services. These advisory committees include citizen members, legislators, lawyers, and judges. The activities of these advisory committees are summarized here:
Committees Under the Rule on Procedural Rules, Administrative Rules, and Administrative Orders
Joint Procedure Committee
The Joint Procedure Committee is the standing committee of the Supreme Court responsible for proposing adoption, amendment, or repeal of rules of civil procedure, criminal procedure, appellate procedure, evidence, and specialized court procedure.
Justice Dale V. Sandstrom chairs the Committee. The Committee membership of ten judges and ten attorneys is appointed by the Supreme Court, except for one liaison member appointed by the State Bar Association.
In 2005, the Committee completed work on a multi-year project to update and revise the North Dakota Rules of Criminal Procedure. The Committee also prepared a new rule on electronic service and filing of documents for the District Courts and contributed to development of a new rule on public access to court records.
Judiciary Standards Committee
The Judiciary Standards Committee, chaired by Judge Douglas Mattson, studies and reviews all rules relating to the supervision of the judiciary, including judicial discipline, judicial ethics, and the judicial nominating process. During 2005, the Committee reviewed federal court decisions affecting the constitutionality of ethical provisions governing election activities by candidates for judicial office. The Committee reviewed the central holdings of the U.S.Supreme Court's decision in Republican Party of Minnesotav.White, 536U.S.765 (2002), which found unconstitutional Minnesota's "announce" clause, and more particularly reviewed the federal district court decision in North Dakota Family Alliancev.Bader, 361 F. Supp.2d 1021 (D.N.D. 2005), which found unconstitutional the "pledges and promises" clauses in North Dakota's Code of Judicial Conduct. In response to Bader decision, the Committee recommended several amendments to Canon5 of the Code of Judicial Conduct. The Committee continued to review the impact of an 8th Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Republican Party of Minnesotav.White, 416 F.3d 738 (August2005). The decision invalidated additional provisions in the Minnesota Code of Judicial Conduct, some of which are similar to those found in Canon5 of North Dakota's Code.
Court Services Administration Committee
The Court Services Administration Committee, chaired by Justice Carol Ronning Kapsner, is responsible for the study and review of all rules and orders relating to the administrative supervision of the judicial system. During 2005, the Committee developed and recommended to the Supreme Court a court interpreter handbook to be used in support of Administrative Rule50, which governs court interpreter qualifications and procedures. The Committee also initiated reviews, through subcommittees, of issues concerning rules and process governing the appointment and responsibilities of custody investigators and the development of additional forms to assist pro se litigants.
Committees of the North Dakota Judicial Conference
Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee
The Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee, chaired by District Judge RonaldE. Goodman of Ellendale, provides advisory services for judges relating to judicial ethics issues. The Committee has provided all judges with an ethics manual and responds to inquiries by judges on ethics questions. The Committee also documents responses for use by all members of the judiciary.
Jury Standards Committee
The Jury Standards Committee, chaired by District Judge JoelD. Medd of Grand Forks, studies and oversees the operation of North Dakota’s jury system. During 2005, the Committee continued its review of the contents of current juror qualification forms and how to most effectively balance the concern for juror privacy with the desire of lawyers and others to obtain information, often personal in nature, concerning prospective jurors. The Committee closed the year with a survey of lawyers, judges, and court personnel about methods of acquiring juror information.
Committees Established by Administrative Rule
Judicial Planning Committee
The Judicial Planning Committee is chaired by Justice Daniel J. Crothers. The Committee studies the judicial system and makes recommendations concerning long-range and strategic planning and future improvements for the system.
North Dakota Legal Counsel for Indigents Commission
The North Dakota Legal Counsel for Indigents Commission was chaired by District Judge Laurie Fontaine, Cavalier, in 2005. The Commission, as provided under Administrative Rule18, was responsible for identifying and reviewing issues concerning the operation of the indigent defense contract system.
Administrative Rule18 was repealed effective January1, 2006, and the Commission disbanded. This action by the Supreme Court reflected the enactment in 2005 of N.D.C.C. Ch. 54-61, which created a new executive branch Commission on Legal Counsel for Indigents and transferred responsibility for indigent defense services from the judiciary to the new Commission.
Administrative Council
The Administrative Council convened their first meeting in August replacing the Council of Presiding Judges as the policy making body charged with the responsibility to provide uniform and efficient delivery of administrative support to the trial courts. The council consists of the presiding judge of each judicial district, three elected judges from administrative units made up of two judicial districts, and one bar representative selected by the State Bar Association's Board of Governors. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court serves as presiding officer of the council. Duties of the council include the responsibility to develop administrative policies for the trial courts and provide the mechanism to ensure implementation. The Administrative Council meets at the call of the chair.
Juvenile Policy Board
The Juvenile Policy Board has continued its discussion of N.D.C.C. Ch.27-20, the Uniform Juvenile Court Act. Progress has been made with regard to a comprehensive review of the entire Act to determine whether it adequately meets the needs of an effective juvenile justice system. The Board expects to finish its review of the Act by the summer of 2006 and make appropriate recommendations to suggested language and rules, if applicable.
The Board is made up of judges, referees, and juvenile court officers, and chaired by District Judge Debbie Kleven. In reviewing the Act, the Chief Justice has added representatives of other agencies and departments to participate in the discussions: Department of Human Services, county welfare directors, State's Attorney's Association, public defenders, and the Department of Juvenile Services.
The Juvenile Policy Board has adopted a Best Practices Manual for district court juvenile court officers as recommended by a subcommittee of the Board.
Commission on Judicial Education
The Commission is made up of five judges of courts of record in North Dakota, one member each from the juvenile court personnel, support staff of courts of record, faculty of the UND Law School, and one judge from a court not of record. The current chair of the Commission is Justice Mary Muehlen Maring.
The Commission develops policies and procedures concerning the implementation of statewide continuing judicial education programs for judges and personnel of the unified judicial system of North Dakota.
Committee on Tribal and State Court Affairs
The Committee on Tribal and State Court Affairs was established following adoption of Administrative Rule 37 by the Supreme Court. The Committee is chaired by District Judge Donovan Foughty, Devils Lake, and is comprised of tribal and state court judges, tribal and state court support services representatives, and public members. It provides a vehicle for expanding awareness about the operation of tribal and state court systems; identifying and discussing issues regarding court practices, procedures, and administration which are of common concern to members of the two court systems; and for cultivating mutual respect for, and cooperation between, tribal and state courts.
Joint Committee on Attorney Standards
The Joint Committee on Attorney Standards was established following adoption of Administrative Rule38 by the Supreme Court. The Committee, chaired in 2005 by Alice Senechal, Grand Forks, is comprised of members appointed by the Chief Justice and the Board of Governors of the State Bar Association. During 2005, the Joint Committee continued and completed its review of North Dakota's Rules of Professional Conduct in light of amendments to the Model Rules of Professional Conduct recently adopted by the American Bar Association. In October 2005, the Joint Committee recommended to the Supreme Court numerous amendments to the Rules of Professional Conduct.
Committees Established by Administrative Order
Gender Fairness Implementation Committee
The Gender Fairness Implementation Committee, chaired by Justice Mary Muehlen Maring, was established by Supreme Court Administrative Order 7 to oversee implementation of the recommendations of the Supreme Court's Commission on Gender Fairness in the Courts. It is further charged with monitoring the progress of the judicial branch in eliminating gender bias in the courts. During 2005, the Committee initiated several regional meetings with lawyers, court users, and judicial system employees as part of a focus group process to aid in assessing the judicial system's progress in addressing bias-related issues in the courts. Surveys of judges will also be conducted and a report will be issued in mid-2006.
Court Technology Committee
The Court Technology Committee, chaired by Judge Allan Schmalenberger, is comprised of representatives from the supreme court, district courts, clerks of court, and state court administrator's office. The committee is responsible for general oversight and direction of technology for the judicial branch.
The unified court information systems (UCIS) continued its growth in 2005 by being installed in West Fargo Municipal Court. UCIS is used in the district courts in all 53 counties and in municipal courts in 8 cities. There are currently nearly 600 enrolled users in the UCIS system.
Throughout 2005, the judicial branch continued its cooperative electronic citation effort with the Highway Patrol. During 2005, nearly 65,000 citations were received from the Highway Patrol. Of that total, 78 percent were received electronically. Additionally, dispositions for all traffic citations were reported electronically to the Department of Transportation. These electronic workflows result in significant efficiencies through reduced data entry and reduction of data entry errors.
We continue to provide access to district court case information to other criminal justice related personnel. Currently, web-based access is provided to over 300 non-judicial personnel, and UCIS access is provided to over 125 non-judicial personnel.
The district court in Cass County began using interactive television for appearances of in-custody participants from the newly constructed jail in Cass County. Future plans include increasing the use of interactive television throughout the state.
Digital recording, the practice of taking the court record digitally and storing it to a computer server, was expanded to include district court in Grand Forks County. This involved placing a digital recording server in the courthouse for audio storage and placing a computer in each courtroom for digital encoding of the audio tracks. Future plans include adding additional digital recording systems to other courthouses.
The North Dakota judicial branch continues its work with the state's criminal justice information system (CJIS) initiative. This initiative is a joint, multi-branch of government effort to facilitate sharing of criminal justice information.
The judicial branch's Help Desk provides technical support to all judicial branch employees, judges, clerk of court personnel and others using and accessing our information systems. Over 5,100 calls for assistance were placed to the help desk in 2005.
The judicial branch IT Department continues to provide email and anti-spam services for judicial personnel. In 2005, the anti-spam server received 4,240,157 email messages and blocked 88.2% of those as spam.
In 2005, we continued our technology training efforts by having our technology coordinator provide on-site computer training for various topics, including email usage, word processor training, UCIS training, and jury system training.
The Court Technology Committee, with assistance from several temporary members, created a draft rule that would allow electronic access to court records. The results of the months-long project are included in a new, draft version of Administrative Rule 41, which was then sent to the Supreme Court for approval.
Throughout 2005 planning efforts continued on an enhanced records management system (ERMS). Such a system provides a method of capturing all court case related documents electronically and storing them within an imaging system. Implementation of a pilot phase is set to begin in 2005 with statewide implementation beginning in 2006.
The biennial judicial branch IT plan was approved by the Court Technology Committee in 2004 and submitted as required by statute.
Committees Established by Administrative Policy
Personnel Policy Board
The Personnel Policy Board was established following adoption of Administrative Policy106 by the Supreme Court. The board is chaired by District Judge M. Richard Geiger and is comprised of a supreme court justice, district court judges, supreme court department heads, and employees of the supreme and district courts. The board is tasked with the responsibility of reviewing and implementing the personnel system and continued developing a salary administration plan for the judiciary. In 2005 the board's primary focus centered around implementation of the pay and classification system.
Trial Court Legal Research Assistance Committee
The Trial Court Legal Research Assistance Committee, chaired by District Judge David Nelson, was created in 1999. The committee provides technical assistance and management assistance to trial courts in the state. The contract for computer assisted legal research (CALR) was awarded to Westlaw after a thorough review and bidding process. The Committee continues to look at library holdings between districts and encourages group purchasing when appropriate.
Committee on Caseflow Management
The Committee on Caseflow Management, chaired by District Judge Allan Schmalenberger, has been established to review district and administrative unit case management plans and practices, as prescribed by the Administrative Council. During this past year, each Administrative Unit has established Caseflow Management Committees to discuss case management issues in their respective units.
Also, the State Court Administrator's Office sought some technical assistance on case management issues in the Southeast and Northwest judicial districts. Adam Fleischman, a law student at the UND School of Law, and former employee of the National Center for State Courts, provided that technical assistance.
Ensuring early court monitoring and continuous control over case progress is essential in caseflow management. Caseflow management also includes developing strategies for differentiated case management, creation of realistic and credible trial dates, and the development of strategies to ensure oversight of all court related case events.
The Committee is made up of judges from each judicial district, bar association members, court administrative personnel, public defenders, and state's attorney representatives. The Committee meets at the call of the chair.
Committee on Trial Court Operations
The Committee on Trial Court Operations, chaired by District Judge David Nelson, develops and maintains a current clerk of court procedures manual; reviews various clerk of court operations for consistent application of statutes, rules, and policies; develops and maintains forms for use statewide; and reviews matters assigned by the Administrative Council. During 2005, the Committee submitted numerous revisions of the Clerk of Court Manual to the Administrative Council for consideration. The Committee also submitted proposals regarding the expungement of court records.
The seven member committee, appointed by the chief justice, includes two district judges, two trial court administrative representatives, and three clerks of district court.