NCJ Number
82089
Date Published
1981
Length
81 pages
Annotation
The management and operations of the prosecuting attorney's office in the 60th Judicial District in Indiana were examined to determine problems related to the intake and screening of felony cases; to analyze the possibility of alignment with the county computer systems; and to assess the child support enforcement and night prosecutor programs and traffic and misdemeanor prosecution systems.
Abstract
Data were conducted by means of a site visit and interviews conducted by a technical assistance team under a contract with LEAA. The team used a functional analysis approach to examine the process steps of intake, accusation, trials, postconviction activities, special programs and projects, and other areas with respect to their operations, administration, and planning. Findings indicated that the prosecuting attorney should develop an overall case management system to exert a stronger policy role in the office. Assistants should perform the screening and review function on a rotating basis. Cases should be assigned to felony attorneys on a rotating basis rather than by case type to give the attorneys a more diverse experience. A numerical system should replace the current alphabetical indexing system, case file jackets and forms should be redesigned, and a file clerk position should be created to maintain felony files and the indexing system. Periodic perfomance reviews should be used as the basis for a differential pay scale for the clerical and support staff. The executive secretary should be designated as an administrative assistant and manager for the office and should have a corresponding salary adjustment. Secretaries should be assigned to specific attorneys rather than to individual courts. A minicomputer system incorporating word processing features should be considered. Additional recommendations focus on the need for a policy and procedures manual, for periodic staff meetings with the attorneys in the office, and for periodic performance evaluations of the attorney staff, and for rotating staff as assistants to the night prosecutor. Extensive appendixes present recommend forms and resumes of the members of the technical assistance team.