NCJ Number
208759
Date Published
2005
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This 2005 Annual Report of Utah State Courts provides information and data on the impact of substance abuse on the courts, court management of juvenile offenders, technological advances in court management, court organization, improvements in court facilities, court management, and statistics on the court caseloads for fiscal year 2004.
Abstract
The introduction notes the impact that drug-addicted offenders are having on the courts throughout the State, as drug dependence leads to property crimes, criminogenic dysfunctional families, and the recycling of drug-addicted offenders through the courts. The court system is attempting to address this issue by focusing on court-mandated and monitored drug treatment for selected drug-dependent offenders through drug courts. Utah has 26 drug courts that operate throughout the State. Regarding the court processing of juveniles, there has been a change over the last 6 years in moving from a "one size fits all" approach to treating young offenders to individual assessments designed to tailor rehabilitation plans to the individual needs and problems of each juvenile. In another area of court management, in the fall of 2004 the Committee on Privacy and Public Court Records issued a report designed to balance the constitutional rights of access to government records and privacy for individuals who do business with the courts. In the domain of technology, the courts are on target to provide electronic case filing and processing for more types of court cases in 2005. The report also displays the organizational structure of the State's court system and presents data for fiscal year 2004 on caseloads for the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, district courts, juvenile courts, and the justice courts (locally funded and operated courts). Judicial personnel are listed, and information is provided on courthouse construction and remodeling.