New Supreme Court Liaison Justice Eva M. Guzman

The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas appoints the various justices to serve as liaisons between the supreme court and various judicial entities across the state. This is done in an effort to address issues and promote communication among the judiciary and the various elements and organizations serving the a...dninistration of justice in this great state of ours. Justice Eva M. Guzman has been assigned as TACA's Liaison with the Supreme Court of Texas. This appointment ensures optimum communication between our respected organization and the Supreme Court.

CACM Suggested Jury Instructions Help Deter Juror Use of Electronic Technologies

At its December 2009 meeting, the Judicial Conference Committee on Court Administration and Case Management (CACM) endorsed a set of suggested jury instructions that district judges should consider using to help deter jurors from using electronic technologies to research or communicate about cases on which they serve. The suggested instructions are included as Attachment 1.

The CACM Committee developed these instructions to address the increasing incidence of juror use of such devices as cellular telephones or computers to conduct research on the Internet or communicate with others about cases. Such use has resulted in mistrials, exclusion of jurors, and imposition of fines. The suggested instructions specifically inform jurors that they are prohibited from using these technologies in the courtroom, in deliberations, or outside the courthouse to communicate about or research cases on which they currently serve.

Text Extracted from http://www.uscourts.gov/newsroom/2010/DIR10-018.pdf

Texas Forum on Self-Represented Litigants

Registration is now open for the April Texas Forum on Self-Represented Litigants and the Courts in Dallas.

Link is www.TexasCourtForum.org

TACA has a Facebook Group!

TACA now has a group on Facebook where approved members can post discussion questions, get feedback and interact with other TACA members!

Want to join?

1. You must first be a Facebook member (you can create an account by logging onto www.facebook.com).
2. Once you join, or if you are already a member, log into Facebook and search for TACA (or the Texas Association for Court Administration).
3. Click on the group once you find it.
4. Click on the "Join" button.
5. Wait for confirmation of approval.

Only approved members can see the contents of the group page, meaning if you're not a member, all you will be able to see is the logo and description.

As always, please use your discresion when posting to any public group. TACA is a professional organization and the site will be moderated to assure that any information on the group page reflects positively on the Association.

Worried about your Facebook privacy? Here's and article you might find interesting: http://www.allfacebook.com/2009/02/facebook-privacy/

Presentation Materials are Available!

Did you miss the 33rd Annual Education Conference, or need a copy of something the presenters handed out at the conference? Many of the materials from the conference are now available online at http://www.mytaca.org/hist/conf/presentations2009.html.

Linda Kellum Receives TACA's Barrow Award

Order in court receives attention
By BLAIR DEDRICK ORTMANN
November 19, 2009
Posted: November 18, 2009, 8:57 PM CST Last updated: November 18, 2009, 9:01 PM CST

For 14 years, Linda Kellum's smile has greeted rushed attorneys and irate citizens, court reporters and clerks alike in the office of 88th District Judge Earl Stover III.

Her calm manner belies the phone calls she makes and answers, the scheduling she juggles and the files she goes over as she performs her duties as Stover's court coordinator.

"When people call and ask if I'm Judge Stover's secretary, I correct them," she said. "I'm a coordinator."

In addition to her job, she has taken the position further, becoming a leader in the Texas Association of Court Administrators by teaching other court coordinators, organizing conferences and meetings and serving on the organization's board for several years.

Her outstanding work earned her the Justice Charles W. Barrow Award this week from the association. The award, which is not given every year, recognizes someone who has "high standards of excellence" and who makes "extraordinary contributions in promoting court administration in Texas," according to the organization's Web site.

Kellum became a court coordinator when Stover was elected 88th District Judge in 1996.

"He'd never been a judge, and I'd never been a coordinator," Kellum said, laughing.

She and Stover graduated from Silsbee High School together, she said, and worked together when she worked at his father's title business and, later, law office.

In their respective new positions, they learned together, she said, calling his dad, longtime member of the law community Earl Stover Jr., for advice in a pinch.

Fourteen years later, the two have their routine down.

Stover, whose district also includes Tyler County, spends three weeks in his Hardin County office and one week per month in Tyler County, presiding over jury trials and civil cases.

Kellum makes sure he stays busy.

"I literally do over-book," she said. "So many of our trials don't happen and if you don't have something else already lined up, that's a day wasted in the courtroom."

Hardin County's courtrooms are shared by two district judges, the county judge and the justices of the peace, and some days, Kellum said, it's like playing musical courtrooms.

"We have court wherever we fit," she said. "We have started out a trial in one courtroom and then moved to another to accommodate someone else."

Kellum and Rita Peterson, the court coordinator for 356th District Judge Britt Plunk, share the duties of making sure everyone has a place to be.

"Every case that's heard in court, we have to set it," Peterson said, adding that Kellum is outstanding at her job as well as spending much of her spare time working for the state association.

"It's time they recognized her, that's what I'm saying," she said. "You almost have to be a psychologist to deal with the citizens who come in upset, and sometimes you have to be the chamber of commerce because everybody calls when they're lost or they need the answer to a question."

Article copied from: http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/local/order_in_court_receives_attention.html

Criminal Court Cost Charts

The latest news from OCA's website: The District Clerk’s Felony Court Cost Chart, the County Clerk’s Misdemeanor Court Cost Chart – Original Jurisdiction, and the County Clerk’s Misdemeanor Court Cost Chart – Appeals from Lower Courts have been updated to include new and amended criminal court costs established by the 81st Legislature. These new and amended criminal court costs will go into effect on January 1, 2010. [09/18/09]