Keith Self's Blog

We recently received a letter from the State Office of Court Administration (OCA) that gives a glowing report on our District Courts based on 10 factors.

Our courts add fewer cases to their dockets than the state average, they dispose of more cases than the state average - almost 10% more from 2002-2006, and they have fewer cases pending than the state average.

The only factors which fall behind state averages are raw population figures - we have more citizens per court than the average. That in itself is positive - we have fewer cases per capita than the average. These figures paint a picture that our District courts are providing justice to our citizens. An excerpt from the letter with the 10 factors addressed is at the bottom of this posting.

District Courts are expensive to run - approximately $640,000 per year in county funds. As you may know, I voted against created two new courts earlier in the year, but later supported them informally when I assured myself that we could spread out their creation across two years. This report strongly suggests to me that we can wait to create new courts until the 2009 legislative session. Our Commissioners Court Session on Tuesday, Feb 27 will readdress the issue of new District Courts.

I want you to know so that you can provide inputs to the Commissioners Court. Obviously, there are those who wish new courts to be established, but the responsibility of the Commissioners Court is to fund the judicial system core function at a level that provides justice to our citizens, and this report indicates that our District Courts are doing that very well at the current time.

The complete OCA letter can be read with supporting charts on page 611 at http://public1.co.collin.tx.us/public_notices/Lists/Public%20Meetings/Attachments/235/Court%20Packet%2002-27-07.pdf
This file is large, so use broadband and give it time to open.

This may a challenging issue on February 27, so please consider your response.

Sincerely,
Keith

Excerpt from Office of Court Administration letter, dated February 14, 2007.

Quote.
We recommend that you consider several factors in assessing the need for a new district court. The "primary factors" discussed below are case-related criteria that are often used to determine judgeship needs. These primary factors, though imperfect and somewhat simplistic, are a good starting point for determining the need for an additional district court in Collin County. More complex analysis tools, such as a weighted caseload study, would provide a more accurate method for determining the need for additional judgeships in our State.

Primary Factors
1. Five-year average (FY 2002 to FY 2006) number of total cases (i.e., criminal, civil, and juvenile cases) added to the docket per court and variance from the statewide average per court. This factor indicates whether a higher than average number of cases is being added to the district court docket in the county.

- Statewide Average Number of Total Cases Added to Docket Per Court (FY 2002-2006): 2,059 cases

- The five-year average number of total cases added to the docket per court in Collin County was 2,001 - 58 cases fewer than the statewide average.

2. Percentage change from FY 2002 to FY 2006 in the average number of total cases (i.e., criminal, civil, and juvenile cases) added to the docket per court and variance from the statewide average per court. This factor indicates whether the county is experiencing a higher or lower than average growth rate in the number of cases added to the district court docket.

- Statewide Percentage Change in Average Number of Total Cases Added to Docket Per Court from FY 2002 to FY 2006: Increase of 17.7 percent

- The average number of total cases added to the docket per court in Collin County increased 15.8 percent - 1.9 percentage points less than the increase in the statewide average.

3. Five-year average (FY 2002 to FY 2006) number of total cases (i.e., criminal, civil, and juvenile cases) disposed per court and variance from the statewide average per court. This factor indicates whether the county is experiencing a higher or lower or lower than average number of cases disposed by the district courts. This statistic describes how much work is completed in the district courts.

- Statewide Average Number of Total Cases Disposed Per Court (FY 2002-2006): 1,905 cases

- The five-year average number of total cases disposed per court in Collin County was 1,931 - 26 cases more than the statewide average.

4. Percentage change from FY 2002 to FY 2006 in the average number of total cases
(i.e., criminal, civil, and juvenile cases) disposed per court and variance from the statewide average per court. This factor indicates whether the county is experiencing a higher or lower than average growth rate in the number of cases disposed by the district courts.

- Statewide Percentage Change in Average Number of Total Cases Disposed Per Court from FY 2002 to FY 2006: Increase of 9.5 percent

- The average number of total cases disposed per court in Collin County increased 19.2 percent from FY 2002 to FY 2006 - 9.7 percentage points greater than the increase in the statewide average during the same time period.

5. Five-year average (FY 2002 to FY 2006) number of total cases (i.e., criminal, civil, and juvenile cases) pending on the docket at the end of the year per court and variance from the statewide average per court. This factor indicates whether the county is experiencing a higher than average number of cases pending on the district court docket. This statistic, when compared with the cases added and cases disposed statistics, helps indicate whether case backlog is an issue in the county.

- Statewide Average Number of Total Cases Pending on the Docket at the End of the Year Per Court (FY 2002-2006): 2,116 cases

- The five-year average number of total cases pending on the docket at the end of the year per court in Collin County was 1,162 - 954 cases fewer than the statewide average.

6. Percentage change from FY 2002 to FY 2006 in the average number of total cases
(i.e., criminal, civil, and juvenile cases) pending on the docket at the end of the year
per court and variance from the statewide average per court. This factor indicates whether the county is experiencing a higher than average number of cases pending on the district court docket. This statistic, when compared with the cases added and cases disposed statistics, indicates whether a backlog is growing.

- Statewide Percentage Change in Average Number of Total Cases Pending on
Docket at End of the Year Per Court from FY 2002 to FY 2006: Increase of 16.4
Percent

- The average number of total cases pending on the docket at the end of the year per court in Collin County increased 9.6 percent from FY 2002 to FY 2006 - 6.8 percentage points lower than the increase in the statewide average during the same time period.

7. Five-year average (FY 2002 to FY 2006) case clearance rate and variance from the statewide average clearance rate. This factor indicates how effectively the district courts are disposing of the cases added to their dockets. A clearance rate of 100 percent indicates that a court disposed of the same number of cases during the year as were added to the docket during the year, resulting in no change to the court’s case backlog.

- Statewide Average Case Clearance Rate (FY 2002-2006): 92.7 percent

- The five-year average case clearance rate for the district courts in Collin County was 96.5 percent - 3.8 percentage points greater than the statewide average during the same time period.

8. Case clearance rate in FY 2006 and variance from average clearance rate for similarly-sized counties. This factor provides information about whether the county is efficiently processing its current caseload, particularly in comparison to courts in counties of similar size.

- Average Case Clearance Rate for Similarly-Sized Counties (FY 2006): 89.4
Percent

- The case clearance rate for district courts in Collin County in FY 2006 was 96.4 percent - 7.0 percentage points greater than the average for similarly-sized counties during the same time period.

9. Five-year average (FY 2002 to FY 2006) population per court and variance from the statewide average per court. This factor indicates whether the county population per district court is higher than the statewide average. This statistic, when compared with the cases added statistics, helps indicate a direct, external cause for increasing caseloads.

- Statewide Average Population Per Court (FY 2002-2006): 52,149

- The five-year average population per court in Collin County was 78,979 - 26,830 (or 51 percent) greater than the statewide average during the same time period.

10. Percentage change from FY 2002 to FY 2006 in average population per court and variance from the statewide average per court. This factor indicates whether the county is experiencing a higher than average growth rate in population per court. This statistic, when compared with the cases added statistics, helps indicate a direct, external cause for increasing caseloads.

- Statewide Percentage Change from FY 2002 to FY 2006 in Average Population Per Court: Increase of 5.6 percent

- The average population per court in Collin County increased 15.4 percent from FY 2002 to FY 2006 - 9.8 percentage points greater than the increase in the statewide average during the same period.

1. I am posting a blog mid-week because it has been a while since I posted, and next week I will join over 200 other Collin County citizens as we travel to Austin for Collin County Day. The Governor and Lieutenant Governor are addressing two of our functions and we will interact with legislators involved in issues we believe important.

2. I have not asked you to become directly involved in the indigent health care issue, but I have been working to build support for our positions across the state with other county judges. I have received some great responses, and I believe that we have increased the amount of feedback that the legislators will receive from their constituents.

3. I have had several opportunities to present my coin to county employees who have been singled out by either their supervisors or in two cases, a citizen, as contributing in an excellent way. I am delighted to recognize excellent performance.

4. I am thoroughly enjoying representing you on the Commissioners Court. I am enjoying working with my colleagues on the court and in other elected offices. There is a great deal going on in county business. The court has discussed moving the workshops, which we hold every other week as posted open meetings, to other locations across the county in order to encourage attendance by you, our citizens. I look forward to seeing you at a court session or a workshop. And as always, I appreciate hearing from you.

Sincerely,
Keith

1. Collin County has six appointed boards and one commission, which can be reviewed at http://www.collincountytx.gov/commissioners_court/committees.jsp
These boards serve important functions, providing citizen input to the Commissioners Court and guiding efforts in critical areas of county life. I would like to see a large a pool of citizen volunteers fill out the application form at the bottom of that web page. I have several available appointments and would like to hear from you if you would like to contribute to our county by serving on a county board or commission.

2. Today, Feb 5, the Commissioners Court will conduct our first workshop, an open meeting in which we discuss items that require more discussion and consensus building. We cannot take action on any item, but we believe that these workshops, held during the weeks between our regularly scheduled court sessions, will allow us to understand issues better before we vote on a course of action. You can see from the agenda at http://public1.co.collin.tx.us/public_notices/default.aspx that we have some very crucial issues on tap for today's discussion.

Sincerely,
Keith