LaPorte on court and media interaction
Expand Community Access to the Court.
To meet access needs of the public, we will continue to expand Court information and services available on line, by broadening Web page access, including, in the future, allowing traffic schools to be taken on line, and payment of traffic fines. We hope to also provide more information for self represented litigants regarding small claims and family law cases, and information on when to hire an attorney. Future expansions may include on line electronic filing of cases. Expansion of our self help center will also increase public access as will public presentations by our judges on topics of interest.
Ensure Adequate Trial Departments.
Our smaller bench size requires flexibility of all judicial officers to handle any type of case. The current pragmatic vision of cross training all judicial officers and allowing all bench officers to try cases as well as handle pretrial calendars, will be expanded to meet future experience needs caused by increased caseloads.
Expand Contact with the State Judicial Branch
Our local Court cannot be isolated from the State Court Judicial Branch. Because court funding from tax dollars has shifted from the County to the State, all of our judges will need to operate on the statewide level on various State committees, to ensure adequate contact with funding sources and State Court decision makers.