NCJ Number
82113
Date Published
1980
Length
26 pages
Annotation
This technical assistance report analyzes the appellate court system in Oklahoma.
Abstract
Based on observations made during site visits to the court of appeals and to the Oklahoma Supreme Court, several recommendations have been developed toward increasing effective management of civil appeals. At present, the appellate courts are only disposing 75 percent of the cases filed annually. The appellate courts should obtain more information on its cases and on the flow of those cases in order to design methods of reducing delay at each point in the appellate process. The courts should establish central management of court reporting services. Simultaneously, the appellate courts should prepare and distribute an appellate attorney's handbook to reduce uncertainty concerning present operations. All proposals for more sophisticated differentiated case management should be explored, as should the possibility of designing a voluntary fast track procedure whereby attorneys designate appeals they deem appropriate for expedited processing. Use of the settlement conference should be retained. A manager of court reporting services should be added to facilitate caseflow. Finally, the courts may eventually need to consider rotating the court of appeals judges between the two court locations to increase collegiality.