New Liaison for TACA

Justice Debra H. Lehrmann is the new liaison for TACA. Please welcome her on her new duties. To see her accomplishments visit here.

Missouri judges get penalty cost before sentencing

It is the first state to provide judges with defendant-specific data on what particular sentences would cost the taxpayers, and on the likelihood that the person in the dock will reoffend.

Not everyone is happy about it.

"I don't think it has any purpose in a process of balancing justice," complained Jack Banas, the St. Charles County prosecuting attorney. "Justice doesn't come down to dollars and cents. You have to look at the system as a whole picture."  Read More...

Justice by the Numbers

Rochester

In communities across the country, people use statistics on hospitals, schools and other public services to decide where to live or how to vote. But while millions of Americans deal with their local criminal courts as defendants and victims each year, there is no comparable way to assess a judicial system and determine how well it provides basic legal services.

This lack of data has a corrosive effect: without public awareness of a court system’s strengths and weaknesses, inefficiencies and civil liberties violations are never remedied.  Read More...

Dallas County criminal court records now available to public online

Dallas County is now one of the few places in Texas where you can get online access to court documents for free.

District Clerk Gary Fitzsimmons and County Clerk John Warren have worked together for months to provide the service. It's part of Fitzsimmons' electronic filing initiative in which court papers are filed electronically with no paper file...read more

Dear TACA Membership,

I hope everyone had a fun and safe holiday. I am sending out this message to remind everyone of the upcoming deadline for scholarship applications. Knowing how tight budgets are right now this is a great way to get to conference. The deadline for submitting your application is August 15th.
FOUNDERS SCHOLARSHIPS
Three scholarships in honor of founding members Martin Allen, Bob Wessels and longtime TACA supporter Trisha Hall were established in 1996 to commemorate TACA’s 20th anniversary. Founders Scholarships shall be used to attend the TACA Annual Education Conference. TACA will waive the conference registration fee. The TACA Treasurer will reimburse the scholarship recipient for travel, meals and lodging associated with the conference according to the Travel Policy up to an amount not to exceed $750.

GOODWILL SCHOLARSHIPS
In 2004, TACA members began a fund-raising effort that now supports Goodwill Scholarships established to assist members with the costs of attending the TACA Annual Education Conference. These scholarships are funded from monies outside of the TACA budget and are available based on fund-raising from year to year. Goodwill Scholarships shall be used to attend the TACA Annual Education Conference. TACA will waive the conference registration fee. The TACA Treasurer will reimburse the scholarship recipient for travel, meals and lodging associated with the conference according to the Travel Policy up to an amount not to exceed $750.
Applications for the Goodwill Scholarships shall be received by the Scholarship Committee Board Liaison on or before August 15 of each year.

Thank You,

Randy Walker

TACA Blog and Facebook Page Up and Running Again

With the departure of Vanessa Farmer, as our Secretariat, we have been shuffling some of the administrative duties she handled. To that end, we have now got the TACA Facebook page and the TACA Blog back up and rolling. Please take the time to visit them and make use of a great networking tool. Leave an article, reconnect with a friend and colleague, or just make someone else smile. We need all the tools we can get, let’s make use of these.

You can locate our Facebook page HERE!

You can locate our Blog HERE!

First Texas Court Management Class Graduates

In June of 2009, the Texas Center for the Judiciary and the Texas Association for Court Administration (TACA) convened the first class of the Texas Court Management Program(TCMP). June 17th, 2010, during the Professional Development Program (PDP), in Austin, the first TCMP class completed their course of study and graduated. This is a monumental event for court mangment and administration in Texas. With the completetion of this first course, these Texas court professionals have raised the bar for education.

The graduation ceromonies, held at the Westin at the Domain, in Austin, were officiated by Ms. Mary Kay Bickett, Executive Director of the Texas Center for the Judiciary. Also in attendance were Carl Reynolds (Office of Court Administration), Dale Kasparek (National Center for State Courts), Walt Natemeyer, Ph.D. (TCMP Faculty) and Bob Wessels (Harris County Court Manager). The keynote speaker for the ceremonies was Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson of the Texas State Supreme Court.

This was a great accomplishment for the participants. The program was divided into five parts. The first two portions were at PDP, June 2009. The second two in conjunction with the annual education conference last year in Corpus Christi and the concluding seminar at PDP this June. Hats off to these few who have charted the course for the rest of us.