The Judicial Branch NewsVolume 6, Issue 11 November 2011

Message from the Presiding

Continued on Page Two

In this IssueTower Design TeamPresents in L.A. .................3

National AdoptionDay.....................................6

EmployeeAnniversaries.......................7

Courtside Photos................9

The Judicial Branch News is anonline newsletter published bythe Media RelationsDepartment.

If you wish to contribute to thisnewsletter, please sendarticles, news items, photos orother correspondence to:karra@superiorcourt.maricopa.gov.

“Equal Justice Under Law”

The Maricopa County Superior Court issues nearly19,000 arrest warrants each year. These warrants areprimarily issued when a criminal defendant fails toappear for a hearing or trial, but also includes arrestwarrants following a grand jury proceeding, childsupport arrest warrants (CSAWs) from the Family Court,probation violation warrants from the ProbationDepartment and fiduciary arrest warrants from theProbate Court. The efficacy of these warrants dependson the correct and timely entry of warrant informationinto the Arizona Crime Information Center (ACIC)

computer where it can be accessed by law enforcement in the normalcourse of their duties.

In Maricopa County, the Court, the Clerk of Court, the Sheriff’s Office(MCSO), the County Attorney (MCAO), the Integrated Criminal JusticeInformation System (ICJIS), the Attorney General (AG), and the ArizonaDepartment of Public Safety all play a role in processing and ensuring theaccuracy of arrest warrant information.

Last year, as part of the Superior Court’s project to upgrade its casemanagement computer system (ICISng), the ICISng design team identifieda significant number of warrants entered in either the ICIS system or theACIC system that did not match exactly.

To address this problem, I created our Criminal Department Warrants Unitto work with Court Technology Services (CTS), the Court’s Research andPlanning Department, the Clerk of Court, the Sheriff’s Office, and otheragencies (MCAO, AG, ICJIS) to find solutions and remedy this problem assoon as possible.

This effort identified the need to revise data entry and file-naming protocolsto allow direct comparison of data. Given the peculiar features of computerinformation systems maintained by each organization and the complexityof individual identification in any criminal justice system, it is not unusualfor errors to occur.

Norman Davis

Page 2November 2011

Message from the Presiding (continued from page 1)

The oldest warrantaddressed was issuedalmost 40 years ago inArizona.

A bench warrant that wasquashed as a result of thisproject was issued morethan 36 years ago by thenSuperior Court Judge, andlater United StatesSupreme Court Justice,Sandra Day O’Connor.

About a quarter of theunreconciled warrantsresulted from the 2001/2002 Regional CourtCenter conversion.

By the Numbers

For example, some of the scenarios that were addressed include:

• A warrant for a deceased criminal defendant could still be active when the court has not beennotified of the death;

• A hyphenated or transposed name may not exactly match the name entered in another systembecause of varying naming protocols by different agencies;

• A person with multiple warrants may have multiple entries or a singular entry in different systemthat prevents all issued warrants from matching in all systems;

• Cases transferred to Superior Court when the Regional Court Center (RCC) was created werestill listed with justice court case numbers;

• Inconsistent business processes for listing case numbers (abbreviations; truncated entries; numericentries that duplicated each other when the alpha identifier was omitted);

• No routine matching protocol existed with any agency to ensure continuing accuracy.

During the last year, these entities have collaborated and synchronized more than 20,000 warrants issued overthe last 40 years. This project is now nearing completion with a goal to ensure every warrant issued, modified,or quashed by the Court is mirrored in the ACIC system within 24 hours of the activity.

Significantly, this collaborative project has identified needed improvements in our warrants system countywidethat are actively being pursued in various sectors. For example, the Clerk has streamlined the entry of warrantsissued from a grand jury proceeding. CTS has created an additional case type in ICIS to accommodate Fugitiveof Justice (FOJ) warrants issued in cases originating in other jurisdictions. The Sheriff’s Office has acceleratedthe review and processing of unmatched warrants to increase accuracy.

The Court’s Warrants Unit, Research and Planning Department, and CTSare jointly working with other Court departments and key stakeholders toeliminate paper warrants and complete an all-electronic warrants systemto transmit all warrants seamlessly to ACIC without the need for multiplere-entry and potential for error.

They are also developing a diagnostic computer dashboard that willcontinually monitor and alert court management if even one warrant failsto match in both the ICISng and ACIC systems, allowing for immediateremediation.

Another significant upgrade to the Court’s ICISng system will enable alldepartments to enter and track warrant information without reliance on theCriminal Department. The development of a new warrants screen will beavailable to all authorized court personnel to track warrants issued by anydepartment (Family Court, Criminal, Civil, Tax, Juvenile, and Probate).

My personal thanks to our court team and other justice systemstakeholders for their work on this collaborative project, and for theirdedication to the remaining work that needs to be done.

Page 3November 2011

News and Notes

On November 28, Superior Courtcelebrated Court AdministratorMarcus Reinkensmeyer’s 20thanniversary with Superior Court byhosting a surprise party in the OldCourthouse.

The Arizona Supreme court announced their 2011 JudicialBranch Achievement Awards. This year’s winners includedAdult Probation Chief Barbara Broderick. Chief Broderickwon For Justice 2020 Goal: Protecting Children, Families,and Communities.

Probation Receives Award

Court Administrator Marcus Reinkensmeyer and the criminaltower design team, making a presentation on the towerproject, “New Model for Safety and Efficiency in UrbanCourthouse Design,” at the 2011 Academy of Architecturefor Justice National Conference in Los Angeles, CA. Fromleft to right: Marcus Reinkensmeyer, Todd McMillan, TomPerica, Steve Jordan and David Evans.

Gale Barclay celebrates her 38th year with SuperiorCourt. She is Superior Court’s longest servingemployee. (Above) Gale Barclay poses with hersupervisor and some of her former supervisors. Leftto right: Carolyn Gonda, Karen Westover, GaleBarclay, Jennifer Murray, Elaina Cano, Paula Collinsand Bob James.

Court AdministratorCelebrates 20 years

Gale Barclay Celebrates her38th Year with Superior CourtCourt Tower Design Team

Visits Los Angeles

Left to right: Former Presiding Judge BarbaraRodriguez Mundell, Court AdministratorMarcus Reinkensmeyer and PresidingJudge Norman Davis.

News and Notes

2011 Maricopa County BarHall of Fame Inductees

Two retired judges were inducted into the Maricopa County Hall of Fame.The ten inductees were honored on Oct. 27, 2011 at the MCBA’s annualHall of Fame/Annual Meeting Luncheon at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix.

The Hall of Fame was created in 2008 by the MCBA to recognize theoutstanding lawyers who are or were true giants of the profession, primarilyin Maricopa County.

Retired Superior Court Judges James McDougall and Robert Myers wereboth inducted into the Hall of Fame. McDougall, former juvenile presidingjudge, worked for more than 25 years to protect the rights of children,families and the mentally ill. Robert Myers, former presiding judge,developed the framework for the Volunteer Lawyers Program. Under hisleadership the Self Service Center was developed, criminal case flow wasstreamlined, and more judges were appointed. Additionally, the court beganbuilding its state-of-the-art electronic computer system to better managecases.

Inductees were selected based on criteria which includes: Practiced atleast for 10 years; played prominent and important roles that have had animpact on the history and development of our local bar and the legalprofession; made significant or unique contributions to the law or theadministration of justice; and/or demonstrated significant leadership,advocacy and accomplishments in service to the community or theprofession.

For more information on the other inductees go to: http://www.maricopabar.org/index.cfm

Recently, Bob Kaliszczjk, AdultProbation Department’s HousingRehabilitation Program Coordinator,was recognized with an award fromthe Southminister ChurchMentorKids Program for hiscommunity betterment work.

Kaliszczjk teamed up withSouthminister Church’s MentorKidsProgram and the MentorKids USAproject, located in the SouthMountain Village area, to remodel anafter school program for kids, aSunday school for the church and aparent resource center for thecommunity.

The building, which was once in verypoor shape, now has new drywalland paint, electrical and plumbing,a new bathroom, new flooring and anew office. Kaliszczjk’s crew alsobuilt a baseball field, repairedplayground equipment, landscapedthe property and helped out in theircommunity garden.

APD EmployeeRecognized

Submitted by Janet KashaAdult Probation

Deborah Chapman of theSouthminister ChurchMentorKids program with APD’sBob Kaliszczjk.

COJET Ends on 12/15To check your transcript orregister for any classes,please visit the online learn-ing center:

http://pathlore.maricopa.gov/stc/courts.

Page 4November 2011

Page 5November 2011

OCH Jail to be a Learning CenterThe historic courthouse jail in Maricopa County will be renovated as part of Arizona’s 100th birthday.The courthouse jail has been designated as one of the Arizona Centennial Legacy projects by thestate’s Historical Advisory Commission. The project includes the creation of a Justice LearningCenter and Museum created in and around a restored cellblock located on the 6th floor of MaricopaCounty’s historic old courthouse.

The Justice Learning Center and Museum will accurately portray a significant aspect of Arizonahistory through the restored cellblock, cellblock artwork, as well as displays and artifacts aboutfamous cases.

For the Arizona Centennial, museum displays will include an interactive exhibit on trials, a specialhonoring of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and Justice William Rehnquist, a prisoner experiencewalk through the jail, and Arizona civil rights trials. The Miranda and Gault decisions, are examplesof people and places that have changed the law in Arizona and the United States.

The Museum will be accessible to large number of visitors/users through impromptu visits by thepublic, in addition to structured tours through the partnership with the Maricopa County Bar Associationand schools. The “Courthouse Experience” program draws over 3,000 students per year.

This project is the result of the hard work of many judicial officers, attorneys, court administrators,and community partners. In 2010, Maricopa County Museum and Justice Learning Center Foundationwas formed to oversee the construction and opening of the Museum. Through the efforts of theFoundation,more than $100,000 has been raised to fund construction and renovation costs. Morerecently, American Express made a generous $50,000 corporate donation to this historic preservationbrick and mortar project.

These commitments and efforts help to ensure the museum to be an enduring project beyond the2012 Arizona Centennial celebration.

The Arizona Family Support Council recently recognized CommissionerJ. Justin McGuire as its 2011 Judicial Officer of the Year.

Supported by nominations from the Office of Arizona Attorney Generaland others in the community, Commissioner McGuire was presented withthe award in recognition for his work on Maricopa County’s AccountabilityCourt and other child support related activities.

Previous recipients of this award are Judge Bruce Cohen andCommissioner Roger Hartsell.

Arizona Family Support Council: Judicial Officer of the Year

J. Justin McGuire

Submitted by Robin Hoskins

November 2011 Page 6

National Adoption Day Highlights

For the fourth straight year,Superior Court in MaricopaCounty had the largest NationalAdoption Day event in the UnitedStates.

On November 19th, 320adoptions were finalized onNAD, breaking MaricopaCounty’s own nation-wide recordof 310 adoptions.

The 2011 event was heightenedby the Phoenix Suns “OperationOrange” campaign; a visit fromthe Arizona Avengers and manyfamily-friendly events andactivities.

A record number of judicialofficers, 60, volunteered theirSaturday to preside over thehearings. Other volunteergroups included: court staff,Juvenile Court Administration,court security, CASA, foster andadoption agencies, State andCounty Agencies, privateattorneys and the Clerk’s Office.

Maricopa County’s event is partof National Adoption Day, anationwide effort to raiseawareness that more than120,000 children needpermanent families.

Page 7November 2011

Employee Anniversaries 5 Years 10 Years

15 Years

36 Years

Oscar Curiel Juvenile Detention Officer Eugene Johnson Security Officer IITheresa Aparicio Judicial Assistant

Rosa Vega Juvenile Detention OfficerBeth Redding Juvenile Probation Officer

Kevin Bishop Adult Probation OfficerAlanna Rubin Adult Probation Officer

Dalianna Hinojosa Judicial Clerk Associate Takia Little Judicial Clerk Associate

Nicalus Haynes Juvenile Detention Ofcr Supv Tammy Browning Juvenile Detention Officer Carlos Colindres Juvenile Detention Officer Kristine Younger Juvenile Probation Officer

Norma Ochoa Office Assistant

Stephen Earl Juvenile Probation OfficerBrandon Smith Administrative AssistantCharles Vinton App Development Supv

Jill Siller Judicial Clerk SupervisorPhilip Rubenstein Probate ExaminerDeborah Lujan Surveillance Officer

20 YearsDennis Williams Judicial Clerk

Tammy Aho Adult Probation OfficerCarolyn Goldstein Adult Probation OfficerStephanie Prince Adult Probation Officer

Kathleen Radl Adult Probation OfficerCarmen Boyd Judicial Clerk Senior

Holly Burke Juvenile Probation OfficerApril Johnson Judicial Assistant

Molly Valdez Judicial ClerkJan Reynolds Judicial Clerk Supervisor

Dalia Ramos Surveillance Officer

25 Years

Karl Kasowski Adult Probation Officer SupvTandy Manross Juvenile Probation Officer

Darlene Carpenter Surveillance OfficerBrenda Crawley Administrative Assistant

Marcus Reinkensmeyer Court Administrator

Janet Blake Adult Probation OfficerPaula Martinez Adult Probation OfficerGary Egbert Juvenile Probation Officer

Mary Farmer Judicial Assistant

November 2011 Page 8

South Tower Veteran’s Day EventOn Veterans Day, November 11, MaricopaCounty celebrated the completion of the 16-story South Tower with a dedication ceremony.

Many Maricopa County dignitaries were inattendance including Juvenile PresidingJudge Eddward Ballinger and CourtAdministrator Marcus Reinkensmeyer.

The grand opening of the tower¸ located nearSecond Avenue and Madison Street inDowntown Phoenix, will be on Arizona’sCentennial Day (February 14).

When the tower opens, it will feature 22 newcriminal courtrooms with the space to add 10additional courtrooms if the need arises.

Construction began on the tower in late 2008.

The tower was constructed to keep up withSuperior Court’s rapidly growing number offelony cases.

CourtsideSouth Tower Photos

The escalators connecting the Central Court Building to theSouth Tower were unveiled earlier this month.