SJIS - STATE JUDICIAL INFORMATION SYSTEM - FINAL REPORT (PHASE 3), VOLUME 2 - TOPICS IN DATA UTILIZATION

• NCJ Number: 49974
• Author(s): ANON
• Date Published: 1978
• Length: 80 pages
• Grant Number(s): 76SS-99-6049
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Justice
• Corporate Author: SEARCH Group Inc.
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

RESEARCH INTO DATA USE BY TRIAL COURTS IS DOCUMENTED, AND A STATISTIC FOR DATA VALIDATION IS PRESENTED AS WELL AS TECHNIQUES FOR VALIDATING DATA, ANALYZING DELAY, MONITORING WORKLOADS, AND PRESENTING DATA.

Abstract

A STUDY OF STATE COURT SYSTEMS DATA USE INDICATES THAT DATA REPORTED TO STATE COURT ADMINISTRATIONS GENERALLY ARE UNDERUTILIZED, BUT THERE DO EXIST SOME SIMPLE PARAMETERS AND TECHNIQUES FOR MAKING DATA PROVIDE A CLEARER PICTURE OF WORKLOAD PERFORMANCE AND LOCAL PROCEDURES. THIS STUDY CONSIDERS DATA USE IN THE NORTH DAKOTA AND COLORADO COURT SYSTEMS. THE NORTH DAKOTA SYSTEM OPERATES ON PAPER FORMS USING CASE-BY-CASE REPORTING AND BATCH PROCESSING, AND THE COLORADO SYSTEM IS ONLINE AND CONSISTS OF REMOTE TERMINALS IN THE COURTS TO PROVIDE CALENDARING, NOTIFICATION, AND STATISTICAL MONITORING. THE NORTH DAKOTA DATA CONSIST OF RECORDS ON FEWER THAN 20,000 CASES AND THE COLORADO DATA INCLUDE MORE THAN 400,000 CASES. FOR MONITORING WORKLOAD, TWO TYPES OF INDICES HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED, THE CHI-SQUARE INDEX FOR DATA VALIDATION AND THE BACKLOG INDEX FOR MEASURING ABILITY TO COPE WITH WORKLOADS AND CASE DELAY. A MONTHLY SUMMARY PROVIDING INFORMATION IN LAYERS IS SUGGESTED CONTAINING SHORT GRAPHICAL SUMMARIES OF THE BEHAVIOR OF THESE INDICES OVER ALL COURTS AND MORE DETAILED FOLLOWUP INFORMATION REGARDING THE INDICES ON A COURT-BY-COURT BASIS. TROUBLE SPOTS COULD BE ANALYZED AND TRACKED DOWN MORE EFFICIENTLY. THE THIRD LAYER WOULD INCLUDE DETAILED AND LONGRUN INFORMATION REGARDING THE COURTS WHICH SUPPORTS THE FIRST TWO LAYERS OF INFORMATION. THE EFFECTS ON THE CASE SERVICING TIMES OF VARIOUS FACTORS WHOSE VALUES WERE AVAILABLE IN THE DATA SET WERE ANALYZED CONCURRENTLY FOR BOTH STATES. THE NORTH DAKOTA STUDY INDICATES THAT, EVEN WHEN ALL FACTORS USED WERE HELD CONSTANT (CASE TYPES, COURTS, AND DISPOSITIONS), THERE WAS STILL A LARGE VARIABILITY IN THE SERVICE TIMES OF INDIVIDUAL CASES. IN THE COLORADO STUDY, THE NUMBER OF TRIAL POSTPONEMENTS AND PRETRIAL ACTIONS HAD A LARGE EFFECT ON TRIAL DELAY. THE REPORT IS DIVIDED INTO TECHNICAL AND NONTECHNICAL SECTIONS, AND APPENDIXES CONTAIN SELECTED REFERENCES AND DATA DESCRIPTIONS. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED--DAG)