In This Issue
Texas Judicial Branch Website Launches
Judicial Committee on Information Technology
e-Filing Update
District and County Clerks' Bootcamp
Language Access Basic Training
Youth Prevention and Intervention Services
NICS Protective Order Reporting Rates
Save the Date
NACM Midyear Conference
Appointments
Judicial Training Resource Links


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Upcoming Events
November 11, 2014
COURTS AND JUDICIAL BRANCH AGENCIES CLOSED
 
November 14, 2014
1:00 - 3:00 PM
Supreme Court of Texas Courtroom
201 W. 14th Street
Austin TX

November 27-28, 2014
COURTS AND JUDICIAL BRANCH AGENCIES CLOSED 


   

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November 2014 
News From the Office of Court Administration
Texas Judicial Branch Website Launches

The Texas Judicial Branch launched a new website on October 18. The site can be viewed on any device and makes it easier to find items without utilizing the search or encyclopedia features. Please remember to update your bookmarks and links from the old website to the new site and let us know what you think about the new www.txcourts.gov!

Judicial Committee on Information Technology

The Judicial Committee on Information Technology working with the Supreme Court adopted the next version of the Technology Standards. These standards provide corrections to the previous version. They also include revised probate standards, standards for criminal e-Filing and standards for additional services.

 

The committee also recognized the long time efforts of Dianne Wilson, County Clerk of Fort Bend County. Dianne has been a part of JCIT since its inception in 1997. Dianne is retiring as clerk on December 31.

 

JCIT's next meeting is January 23rd, 2015 from 10AM to Noon at the Texas Association of Counties.

L to R: Dianne Wilson and Justice Rebecca Simmons
e-Filing Update

Counties continue to climb aboard as the next e-filing mandate approaches. On January 1st, 2015, counties with a population greater than 100,000 are mandated to electronically file in civil cases. All counties impacted by this mandate are already e-filing today in a permissive environment. Starting the e-filing process early has allowed each county to review and change any internal business processes to support the mandate before its mandate deadline. OCA encourages all counties to start e-filing early as it is definitely a change to existing processes.

 

District and County Clerks' Bootcamp Placeholder

OCA will be joining forces with the Texas Association for Counties (TAC) and the County and District Clerks Association of Texas (CDCAT), in hosting the first ever College for New Clerks, on January 20, 2015, in San Marcos. The four-hour, 101, curriculum is designed around responsibilities required of a newly elected county or district clerk, coming into his/her position on January 1 and will also provide an in-depth overview of services available through OCA.

 

The program will be held in conjunction with the Annual Clerk's Conference, hosted by CDCAT. Texas will welcome 80 new clerks on January 1.
Language Access Basic Training (LABT)

The general term "language access" covers a variety of efforts to assist Limited English Proficient people in gaining equal access to the courts. OCA is involved in language access through the Judicial Branch Certification Commission, which currently licenses court interpreters in twenty spoken languages, as well as through the Language Access Program. This latter program provides Spanish interpretation by phone to a growing list of judges (87 at last count), document translation, and training for all stakeholders.

 

Last year, OCA interpreters Juanita Ulloa and Marco Hanson assisted the New Mexico Center for Language Access in developing an online course which has now been launched for national use: Language Access Basic Training (LABT). Funded by a grant from the State Justice Institute and hosted by the National Center for State Courts, this project focuses on training for non-interpreters who work in the court system serving the Limited English Proficient public. Trainees download the software onto their computer and then complete it at their own pace. The fundamentals module is in English, and covers ethical and legal obligations, professional standards, roles of court staff, cultural competency and customer service. The second module, for bilingual employees, goes into greater linguistic depth with terminology acquisition, interpreting exercises and skills evaluation tools. The first module takes about two hours to complete, and the second module adds another four hours.

 

OCA interpreters collaborated with the multi-state team that developed LABT over the course of a year, contributing practice scripts, a glossary, lessons on terminology research and false cognates, and samples of common orders used in court.  Then an e-mail request for volunteers from courts around the state brought in 163 employees interested in taking the training as a test of the curriculum and technology prior to launch. The volunteers reported that the course was interesting, useful and well-designed. To learn more, or to purchase access to the training, see http://www.ncsc.org/labt
Youth Prevention and Intervention Services
Rider 17.10 in Article IX of the General Appropriations Bill (83rd Legislature) required the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, the Texas Education Agency, and the Texas Military Department to publish a report on the juvenile delinquency prevention and dropout prevention and intervention services funded by the state. The report published in October provides an excellent resource of available programs, the amount of funding provided to each program and the success rates for the various programs. Courts may find this information helpful as they consider referrals to these programs.
Office of Court Administration Project to Improve NICS Protective Order Reporting Rates

While the court system is usually involved in providing remedies in civil cases or punishment for crimes, it also possesses a critical role in increasing the safety of victims of family violence, sexual assault, hate crimes, stalking, and human trafficking.  The primary tools utilized by the courts in this endeavor are protective orders and magistrate's orders of emergency protection.  Moreover, these mechanisms, when properly used and documented, further enhance the safety of law enforcement officers and the community at large by identifying potentially dangerous persons and reducing the opportunity for such persons to obtain and possess firearms.

 

However, it is often difficult to enforce orders if they cannot be verified and confirmed.  Moreover, failure to enter the order increases the chances that a prohibited person would be allowed to possess and purchase firearms. The primary means of doing this is for the protective order to be entered into the Texas Crime Information Center (TCIC), which also sends crucial information to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). NICS is a computerized system established to provide information on whether a prospective gun buyer is eligible to receive or possess a gun. The FBI uses NICS to perform background checks on prospective gun buyers.  Under federal law, states are required to report criminal, mental health, protective order, and other prohibiting factor records to NICS.

 

Unfortunately, not all protective orders are being entered into the system due to various issues.  These issues include confusion regarding the roles of the various participants in the system; lack of understanding of the current information requirements; and inconsistencies of the rules and laws surrounding protective order data entry. An additional complication is Texas' decentralized court and law enforcement systems. Funding for the staff and operating expenses of the courts, clerk offices, and law enforcement agencies comes from the counties or municipalities, not the State. As a result, the data transmitting processes, organization of records, and computer systems vary from office to office and county to county.

 

Therefore, in 2013, OCA received funding from the U.S. Department of Justice, under the NICS Act Record Improvement Program, to conduct the NICS Protective Order Record Improvement Project.  The purpose of the project is to increase the number of prohibiting protective order records made available to TCIC and NICS.  To identify the challenges and solutions in this process, OCA met with the organizations that serve and support the major players in this process, i.e. clerks, judges, law enforcement, prosecutors, and advocates. In addition, OCA conducted site studies in eight counties across Texas along with a statewide online survey.  Finally, a task force comprised of the above participants reviewed the process and crafted recommendations to improve this crucial component of the justice system, including training of the many participants in the process.  This project has resulted in the creation of three training modules in webinar format that can be found on the OCA webpage at:

http://www.txcourts.gov/dvrp/domestic-violence-resource-program.aspx

 

Each webinar focuses on a different role in the reporting process.  There is one for clerks, one for judges, and a third one that has information for the other participants in the system.  There will be more webinars that will specifically address the other roles as there are created.  Each webinar covers the following:

  • Why do we care about protective orders and their entry into the Texas Criminal Information Center (TCIC)?
  • What is NCIC, TCIC, NICS and what types of protective orders should be entered?
  • Who participates in the reporting process?
  • How can the reporting process be improved?

In addition, valuable resources, including forms and other information, will be added in the near future and periodically thereafter.

 

OCA anticipates this project will be profoundly useful for all of us who are committed to providing justice to the citizens of Texas. OCA thanks all of you who gave your invaluable insight and support during this endeavor.  The project is continuing by offering training and technical assistance so please feel free to contact OCA's Protective Order Resource Attorney Kimberly Piechowiak, (512) 936-6390, or [email protected] with any questions, comments, or suggestions.
Save the Date
March 16-18, 2015

Conference on Crimes Against Women

Presented by:
  • Genesis Women's Shelter & Support
  • Dallas Police Department
Sheraton Hotel, Downtown Dallas
NACM Midyear Conference
Founded in Tradition, Focused on the Future
February 8-10
Lost Pines, Texas

How has the world of court administration been impacted by case processing and technological advancements, workforce demographics, societal expectations, and leadership? Join your colleagues to explore the impact these elements have had - and will continue to have - on our profession. Education sessions will focus particular attention on the recently revised NACM Core Competencies (The Core).

 

In addition to these powerful learning opportunities, attendees will enjoy networking events, an exhibit show, shared interest groups, and more at the beautiful Hyatt Regency Lost Pines. In addition, you can help NACM give back to the local community by participating in a service project benefitting AGE of Central Texas.

 

Register early and save - $475 for members/$600 for non-members. Contact [email protected] to learn more about special rates for groups of five or more.

 

Register now! We hope to see you there.

Appointments
Gov. Rick Perry has appointed Donna King of Leander as judge of the 26th Judicial District Court in Williamson County for a term to expire at the 2016 general election.
View article...

 

Gov. Rick Perry has appointed Maggie Jaramillo of Richmond as judge of the 400th Judicial District Court in Fort Bend County for a term to expire at the 2016 general election.

View article... 

 

Gov. Rick Perry has appointed Steve Hughes of El Paso as justice of the 8th Court of Appeals for a term to expire at the 2016 general election.

View article... 

 

Gov. Rick Perry has reappointed Dean Rucker of Midland as presiding judge of the 7th Administrative Judicial Region for a term that will expire four years from the date of qualification.

View article... 

Resources

Judicial Training Resource Links

About the OCA

OCA is a state agency in the judicial branch that operates under the direction and supervision of the Supreme Court of Texas and the chief justice and is governed primarily by Chapter 72 of the Texas Government Code.  www.txcourts.gov

 

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