Judicial Council Monthly Court Activity Reports

1. Judicial Council Monthly Court Activity Reports Sandra Mabbett Judicial Information Analyst Office of Court Administration

2. Texas Judicial Council • Texas Judicial Council: policymaking body for the judicial branch, consists of 22 judicial, legislative, and citizen members • Since 1929, one its primary duties has been to gather judicial statistics from judges and other court officials (Government Code section 71.035(a)) • Judicial Council, assisted by OCA, is the only entity that collects comprehensive statistics on the operation of the Texas courts

3. Legal Requirements • Texas Government Code, Chapter 71, Section 71.035(b): Judge/Clerk must submit monthly report as duty of office • Texas Administrative Code, Sections 171.1 & 171.2: Report is due no later than the 20th of each month (e.g., report for July is due August 20)

4. Publications • Court Activity Reporting and Directory System http://card.txcourts.gov • Texas Judicial System Annual Reporthttp://www.courts.state.tx.us/pubs/annual-reports.asp • Published Texas Judicial System Directory http://www.courts.state.tx.us/pubs/JudDir.asp • Searchable Texas Judicial System Directory http://card.txcourts.gov/DirectorySearch.aspx

5. Resources

6. OCA Website http://www.courts.state.tx.us/oca/ocahome.asp

7. Required Reporting Website http://www.courts.state.tx.us/oca/required.asp • Forms • Instructions • Frequently Asked Questions • XML Specifications and XML Tester • Spreadsheet with DPS codes classified by OCA case category

8. http://www.courts.state.tx.us/oca/required.asp

9. Judicial Directory http://card.txcourts.gov/DirectorySearch.aspx

10. Statistical Reports http://www.txcourts.gov/pubs/annual-reports.asp

11. Clerk Manuals and Handbooks http://www.courts.state.tx.us/pubs/pubs-home.asp#FilingFees

12. Report Submission

13. Monthly Court Activity Report Report must be submitted online, unless you have a waiver from OCA. Contact OCA’s Service Desk: (512) 463-1642 Or service.desk@txcourts.gov to obtain a User ID and password or for password resets

14. On-Line Submission of the Monthly Report is Required • The reporting rules in the Administrative Code only allow for a waiver of ONLINE reporting. • The waiver provision applies only to courts who wish to continue mailing or faxing their reports to our office. • Everyone is still required to submit a report.

15. Requesting a Waiver from reporting on-line • Will be for valid through the end of the current state fiscal year (August 31st) • Must be submitted in writing by fax, email or mail

16. CARD – Court Activity and Reporting Directory System http://card.txcourts.gov

17. CARD – Court Activity and Reporting Directory System • Anyone (no login required) can access reports containing the most up to date data and also search the directory • Courts login and submit the monthly reports • Electronically via XML report, or • Data Entry

19. Run Reports without a login ID • Reports are separated by revision date • Formatted reports or ad hoc searches available

20. Directory Search http://card.txcourts.gov/DirectorySearch.aspx • Click on Public Judicial Directory

21. CARD – Court Activity and Reporting Directory System • For additional information on running reports or searching the directory, refer to the separate handouts provided

22. Report Submission Reminders • A report must be submitted for EACH month, even if court had no activity • If a section of a report was submitted for one month, it must be submitted for every month, even if there is no activity to report

23. Report Submission Reminders DocumentDOCUMENTDOCUMENT!!!! • Use the Notes Section at the bottom of each section to account for unusual or inconsistent reporting figures such as • Large docket adjustments after validation of pending case numbers • Large number of dismissals when prosecutor clears old cases from docket • Higher or lower number of cases reported in a category due to unusual circumstance

24. Report Submission Reminders Accuracy of report should be verified - don’t assume your software gets it right! We recommend that you review and compare the submitted report to a printed copy of the report from your software both when originally submitting a report or when submitting corrected reports Instances where the two reports do not match have surfaced with no known cause as of yet

25. Report Submission Reminders Reports that are out of balance should be corrected before submitting any subsequent months

26. Report Submission Reminders Keep copies of any reports run from your system for a minimum of 2 years

27. Reviewing the Monthly Report for the Most Common Errors • Look for filings, docket adjustments, dispositions, or pending case numbers that are too low, too high, or that do not make any sense. A typo may have been entered, or a set of figures may have been entered into the wrong line. Errors are especially common in the Revenue line.

28. Reviewing the Monthly Report for the Most Common Errors • Docket Adjustments – is an explanation needed? • Uncontested Dispositions vs. Trials • Compliance Dismissals – missing or obviously too low or too high • All Other Dispositions – only used for judgments not clearly identified in another category

29. Reviewing the Monthly Report for the Most Common Errors • Ratio of filings to dispositions • If judge does magistrate warnings or arrest warrants, are they present? • Community Service and Jail Credit – are you reporting only when case is satisfied in full?

30. Reviewing the Monthly Report for the Most Common Errors • Refer to the report instructions at www.courts.state.tx.us/oca/required.asp • Contact your software vendor if obvious programming issues are found • Contact OCA if you have questions or need our assistance

31. Making Corrections to Reports After Your Review • Corrections may be made to any report beginning with the month of September 2011 • Corrections must be made to individual months – one correction to a month to add, subtract or correct data may not be made

32. Making Corrections to Reports After Your Review • Corrections must be made sequentially, starting with the oldest month first • Corrections may be made by uploading a new XML file or by manually changing the number(s) regardless of how the report was initially submitted • OCA can delete reports or sections

33. Upcoming Changes to the Civil Section

34. Changes to Civil Section • House Bill 79 abolishes the small claims court effective August 31, 2013 • House Bill 79 doesnot abolish small claims cases • The current small claims case docket and all other justice court case docket will be consolidated into one civil justice court docket

35. Changes to Civil Section • Cases in the categories of Small Claims Suits and Other civil Suits filed prior to September 1, 2013 will all be placed in the Small Claims Suits category on the new form and must be disposed of in that category • Cases filed after September 1, 2013 must be separated by the new categories

36. Changes to Civil Section • New form effective September 1, 2013 • Form, Instructions and Civil Case Information Sheet found on the Required Reporting Website

37. Changes to Civil Section Current New effective 9/1/2013

38. Civil Case Information Sheet • New and effective with the revision to the report on 9/1/2013 • Assists the court in identifying the proper case category in which to place cases • Is required to be completed by the plaintiff or the plaintiff’s attorney at the time of filing of a petition

39. Questions Sandra Mabbett, Judicial Information Analyst sandra.mabbett@txcourts.gov (512)463-1640 phone (512) 936-2423 fax Angela Garcia, Judicial Information Manager angela.garcia@txcourts.gov (512) 936-1358 phone

40. Questions Sandra Mabbett, Judicial Information Analyst sandra.mabbett@txcourts.gov (512)463-1640 phone (512) 936-2423 fax Katherine Martinez, Judicial Information Specialist katherine.martinez@txcourts.gov (512)463-3789 Angela Garcia, Judicial Information Manager angela.garcia@txcourts.gov (512) 936-1358 phone