Published: August 30, 2008 02:45 am      

Clark County has busiest judicial officers in state

Clark County has the most over-burdened judicial officers in the state, according to a report published this year.

In 1993, the Judicial Administration Committee of the Indiana Judicial Conference began comparing trial court caseloads by weighing the amount of time on average it takes for particular types of case and how many of those cases each court has. They only take into account new case filings.

The utilization number in Clark County is 1.82, meaning the caseload is 82 percent higher than recommended.

Clark County Superior Court No. 2 Judge Cecile Blau said a new magistrate this year has helped tremendously, but she said it is only a “Band-Aid.”

She believes the judicial system has not kept up with the growth in the county.

“Ever since I’ve been on the bench, I’ve seen an increase in cases,” she said.

Blau said all of the judges are doing more to overcome the high caseload.

She has a Drug Court every Thursday night that helps repeat drug offenders learn new skills to keep them out of the judicial system.

Clark County does have some positive news though. Last year, the county’s public defender’s office was warned that if it did not come up with a plan to cut down on its workload, it would lose state money.

Deborah Neal, staff counsel for the Indiana Public Defender Commission, said the commission decided at its June meeting that Clark County is now in compliance.

Neal said the main reason the county is in compliance is because Superior Court No. 1 Judge Vicki Carmichael now assigns some of her parental rights cases to people outside of the public defender’s office.

Floyd County’s courts are the second-busiest in the state, according to the report, but the judges are confident a new court will eventually help ease their burden.

Circuit Court Judge Terrence Cody said he expects to see the change within six months to a year of when the court is added.

Floyd County’s caseloads are 66 percent higher than recommended, the report states. Because criminal cases legally must take precedent, other cases are sometimes delayed longer than some people want.

“It’s to the detriment of civil cases and domestic cases,” Cody said.

Cody believes some of the burden will be lifted after Jan. 1 when a new Superior Court is added. Some ongoing cases may be transferred to the new court, but it will still take time for the new court to get up and running.

Last year, Floyd County had a utilization of 1.59, of 59 percent higher than recommended. It increased by 0.07 this year.

Floyd County Superior Court Judge Susan Orth said that each Wednesday and Thursday, she and Judge Cody hear criminal cases from 8:30 a.m. until 6:30 p.m.

She believes part of the heavy docket may be attributed to more people going to trial who would otherwise be receiving other types of care.

“We have gradually more and more mental health facilities closing,” Orth said.

While the new court and new judge will help, Floyd County will still need one and a half more judicial officers to be at the recommended number.