Court modernization research highlights benefits and cost savings but renovations come with substantial costs.
Following a number of years of research and case studies from almost a dozen other states, Pew Research has released a comprehensive, practical guide to modernizing courts. As previously covered on the Conduit Street blog, improving court accessibility to enhance better long-term outcomes for justice-involved individuals saves time and money. But it is also more equitable, leading to more just outcomes for all residents, especially those from historically disenfranchised populations.
The article gives step-by-step instructions, metrics to gauge results, vital stakeholders to engage, and state-by-state examples.
After extensive research, The Pew Charitable Trusts has developed a framework outlining how and why courts should modernize.1 These steps arise from that work and can help programmatic and operational court staff, along with court leadership, assess how they are simplifying court processes, identify opportunities to improve, and decide—with input from relevant stakeholders—which of those opportunities to pursue and how.
Court modernization has hit a stumbling block in previous sessions, and might well again in 2024, particularly with a precarious budget forecast across the state. Counties have weighed in on previous bills, noting the socio-cultural significance of such changes while also grappling with the funding constraints. As the funding stream for the Circuit Courts in local jurisdictions, counties have been an active part of the ongoing discussion. MACo testimony from the 2023 session highlights some of those challenges and perspectives
Read the full Pew article.
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