District Court Judge: John T. Paulson, Presiding Judge; James M. Bekken; Ronald E. Goodman; John E. Greenwood; Richard W. Grosz; and Mikal Simonson.
Number of Counties in District: 11
District Court Chambers: Valley City, Jamestown, New Rockford, Ellendale, and Wahpeton.
District Court
A master calendar system continues to be used in Stutsman County. Types of cases included on the master calendar are typically short matters. These cases are heard on a rotating 16-day cycle on the first through fourth Monday through Thursday of the month. The civil and criminal cases not resolved on master calendar are then distributed between four judges according to the percentage of master calendar they handle.
An interactive-television pilot project is also being developed for use during mental health hearings in Stutsman County. This ITV system allows patients and/or doctors to testify in court without leaving the State Hospital. The pilot project is intended for mental health proceedings and is designed to avoid the time, expense, and inconvenience imposed on mental health patients and other participants in the proceeding.
In April of this year, the clerk of court offices in both Richland and Stutsman Counties became state-funded offices. A clerk of court management review was held in Stutsman County and is being scheduled for Richland County. This process helps to insure more uniform procedures state-wide.
The unified court information system (UCIS) continues to be used as the case management tool throughout the district. There are now seven counties on-line. The remaining four counties in the district will be going on-line early next year. docket currency reports are distributed to judges each month and improvements have been made regarding case flow management.
Monthly meetings are held with the clerks of court to help develop uniformity throughout the district. In addition, a training session is held regarding the proper use of the UCIS program. The meetings also serve to keep the county-employed clerks' offices aware of what is being implemented in the state-employed clerks' offices.
Juvenile Court
Juvenile court offices throughout the district continue to use the juvenile case management system (JCMS). The program continues to be evaluated and enhanced to better meet the needs of the users. By going to a uniform data entry system, the courts are better able to generate statistical reports and monitor trends within the juvenile court system.
Juvenile court offices also continue to use juvenile accountability incentive block grant (JAIBG) program funds as a tool to hold youth accountable for their actions. These funds allow juvenile offenders to work meaningful community service to pay off restitution owed to their victims and benefit the community in a visible and meaningful way. This guarantees the victims receive restitution as soon as possible and juvenile offenders are still held accountable for their actions.
Other programs used by the juvenile courts which have shown positive results are drug and alcohol testing, tracking, a victim/offender mediation program, Keys to Innervisions, and a community accountability board.
Guardians Ad Litem
The Southeast judicial district continues to use lay people as guardians ad litem in juvenile court cases and as custody investigators in divorce and/or custody cases. Quarterly meetings or training are scheduled in order to keep everyone abreast of new developments in the program, as well as provide continuing education hours.
| Case Filings/ Dispositions | 2000 (F) (D) | 2001 (F) (D) | ||
| Civil Small Claims Admin Traffic Criminal Juvenile | 3,322 959 15,537 4,810 304 | 3,971 968 15,873 5,495 304 | 3,001 879 15,258 4,157 317 | 4,192 894 14,744 6,115 317 |