NCJ Number
92542
Journal
Judicature Volume: 67 Issue: 6 Dated: (December-January 1984) Pages: 284-291
Date Published
1984
Length
8 pages
Annotation
The wide variety of educational backgrounds (both in level and type) for court administrators revealed in a nationwide study indicates that while court management is a specialized public administration field, it is not necessarily the emerging 'profession' forecast by many during the early 1970's.
Abstract
With the cooperation of the National Association for Court Administration and the National Association of Trial Court Administrators, a mail survey was sent to 731 organizational members in 46 States. The data were compiled and analyzed in March and April of 1983. There were 377 usable responses (no claim is made that this was a representative sample of court managers). Slightly less than 40 percent of the appointed managers and over 60 percent of the elected managers did not have a college degree. Perhaps more notable is the fact that one-third of the appointed managers hold postgraduate degrees, with most having a master's degree. Among the managers having a 4-year degree, the most common major is business administration/management, followed by criminal justice. Another 38 majors are represented, ranging from social work to zoology. Among those having a college degree, about 37 percent participated in an internship program, with 62 percent interning in a court. There was some overlap between beneficial college course work and inservice training programs. Respondents notes that valuable inservice training programs have included such topics as caseflow management, jury management, and records management. Court managers with higher educational levels tended to be appointed, be court executives and administrators, work in courts of general jurisdiction and with a larger volume of cases, be younger males, and have higher annual incomes. Tabular data are provided.