Chief Justice expresses thanks to judicial team members Monday, April 13, 2020
Judicial Team Members, greetings. Your hard work and dedication to the North Dakota Judicial System over the past several weeks is appreciated. Although many of you are working from home, our district courts are handling far more cases than we had initially imagined would be possible. While we are not at “normal operations” we are moving forward. Our ability to process the cases we are handling is due to your hard work. Thank you.
Our clerk of court offices, both district court and the Supreme Court, have done an amazing job continuing to handle filings during the emergency. The volume of work is astounding. While every team member has done his or her part, I have personally had a chance to see the Clerk of the Supreme Court, Petra Hulm, and her staff working through this emergency. Their hard work has allowed the Court to continue its oral arguments. Thank you.
Our administrative staff has continued to provide valuable support in human resources, accounting, and other services. Our administrative staff has allowed us to leverage technology to continue to get our essential tasks done. Lee Ann Barnhardt and Kim Dockter have facilitated countless video conferences and educational events to help us through the emergency. Please let them know if there is a particular topic you think would be helpful to address in an upcoming video event.
We have all had one or more experiences with our IT Department over the last several weeks. They have worked tirelessly to keep our computers and networks going, and their work has been exceptional.
We recognize that being a reporter or recorder during this emergency has been difficult. Reporters and recorders have been present for emergency hearings and wrestled with multiple electronic meeting platforms. Similarly, the administrative assistants and judicial assistants have leveraged technology to continue to support operations throughout the organization. Thank you for continuing to provide exceptional work.
Our juvenile court officers, directors, and drug court staff have found innovative ways to maintain contact with youth to continue supporting, educating and guiding them during these times. Thank you.
Justice Crothers has worked tirelessly to develop a guide for conducting video hearings. We anticipate we will be able to share that work with the district courts within the immediate future to get feedback and make appropriate modifications. It will be a template to use during this emergency and well into the future.
The Court continues to meet regularly with the presiding judges and unit administrators for each of the judicial districts. The presiding judges have provided fantastic guidance during the emergency. The frequent meetings have allowed the districts to share information about procedures that are working and discuss solutions for problems. Presiding Judges Romanick, Lee and Hager have helped with decisive decision making and providing critical feedback leading to improved decisions. Presiding Judges Herauf and Schmidt have used their experiences handling the volume of cases arising as a result of the oil boom to assure us we will succeed, regardless of how many bumps there may be in the road. Presiding Judge Narum has offered great advice on changes to help resolve cases, including streamlining some child support modifications. Presiding Judge Racek has kept our criminal dockets moving forward. Judge Foughty has offered thoughtful observations during our meetings in a manner that assures us we will be back to normal before we know it. Scott Johnson, Carolyn Probst, Donna Wunderlich, and Rod Olson have worked alongside the presiding judges to implement decisions and made sure the collective decisions have been shared with all of the team members within the units.
Our discussions are now focusing on returning to normal operations. We will continue to be mindful of our obligations to protect the health of team members and the public while we add more proceedings to our schedules. We have much to look forward to and much to be proud of having accomplished. The Court hopes your energy and enthusiasm will continue as we work toward resuming more of our regular activities using innovative methods