The Sound Block         
9TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT COURT JOURNAL www.ninja9.org   SUMMER, 1997

sound block (sound blok) n. A piece of wood or other hard substance usually in a circular or square form. Primarily used by judges to strike their gavel on to open court or gain attention. [Orig. English Common Law, 1655]

Table of Contents

EMPLOYEE OF THE QUARTER

I am proud to announce that the Employee of the Quarter award goes to Dani Dotts, Lead Electronic Court reporter. During the last six months, Dani has served as the on-sight project manager for the installation of a centralized court reporting system. This system features two principal components: 1) a digital audio court reporting system to record the courtroom proceedings; and 2) a central monitoring system in which to operate the new reporting system for up to four locations from a single workstation. The centralized court reporting system will dramatically change and improve operational efficiency. Dani has transformed this state-of-the-art system and complex installation from conception to reality.

Ron Johnson, Asst. Court Administrator and Project Manager, says "Dani's expertise in electronic court reporting, high degree of technical aptitude, and motivation have provided this project with a unique blend of skills." Ron further states Dani has taken ownership of this project and provided the insight and effort that was critical for a successful implementation."

A project of this scope and profile is expected to initially have numerous operational problems, and this project was no exception. Dani has very diligently worked through many of the issues and problems. Because of her efforts, the first phase of this project, the installation in Juvenile Court, is in a "live" production mode.

I am equally proud to announce that effective July 14th, Dani is being promoted to a Microcomputer Analyst and being transferred to the Court's Department of Information Systems. Dani will remain as the Circuit's resident expert in centralized court reporting technology and will head the project to expand the implementation of the new technology into County Criminal Court, County Traffic Court, and the nine deposition rooms.

Reminder: Please submit all future nominations, with support documentation, for the Employee of the Quarter to Matt Benefiel, Court Administrator.

SIDEBAR NEWS

On May 30, 1997, the Honorable Richard F. Conrad was appointed Administrative Judge of the Appellate Division for the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court by Chief Judge Belvin Perry, Jr.

The Investiture for Circuit Judge Renee A. Roche and County Judge James E. Glatt, Jr. will be on July 25, 1997 at the Mariott Hotel/Downtown.

A Legislative Reception honoring Senator Toni Jennings and Representative Daniel Webster is scheduled for August 18, 1997. The function will be held at the Orange County Convention Center's Valencia Room. Also attending will be Supreme Court Justice Gerald Kogan as well as numerous elected officials from both Orange and Osceola counties.

ADMINISTRATIVE ORDERS

The Honorable Belvin Perry, Jr., Chief Judge, recently issued the following Administrative Orders:

Order 07-96-56 amends Administrative Order 07-96-36 concerning the assignment of Circuit Judges to the appellate panels for 1997. This Order is effective nunc pro tunc to 1-7-97.

Order 07-96-57 vacates Orders 07-83-27 and 07-87-26 (Orange and Osceola) and incorporates Fl. Rules of Judicial Administration 2.072 which prohibits the removal of court records from the Clerk's office except for Judges and authorized personnel. Please review the original Order for complete details.

Order 07-96-59 amends Order 07-96-37 establishing the five week calendar for scheduling proceedings in the Orange Co. Criminal Division. The revisions are:

  1. The days which the Traffic Judges will conduct video proceedings shall be on Monday & Tuesday not Wednesday;
  2. Video proceedings on Wednesdays will be conducted by the Misdemeanor Judges or by Judge Kirkland depending on the week. The other days which the Misdemeanor Judges and Judge Kirkland are currently assigned shall remain the same. Please see the original Order for specific details;

Orders 07-96-60, 61 and 62 govern the temporary assignment of judges and are effective July 1, 1997 through December 31, 1997. Please refer to the original order for specific content.

Orders 07-96-64, 65 and 66 govern the assignment of judges to Divisions and are effective January 6, 1998. Please refer to the original order for specific content.

SPECIAL FOCUS SECTION

Guardian Ad Litem
The Osceola County Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) represents the best interests of the children in the court process. Thousands of abused and neglected children become the subject of judicial proceedings each year. The GAL Program is a voice for these children during the court process and does this in a variety of ways; investigator, monitor, spokesperson, and reporter.

The program utilizes community volunteers who care and are able to give time to help a child. Volunteers complete training and undergo background screening prior to being matched with a child. Cases usually require eight to thirty hours a month, depending on the severity of a case.

The first volunteer GAL Program that served abused and neglected children was organized in 1977 by the King County (Seattle, Washington) Courts. The Florida GAL has 21 programs located in the twenty Judicial Circuits.

The Osceola Program consists of a full-time Coordinator, a part-time Assistant and a part-time Attorney. The Coordinator recruits, trains and completes case management with volunteers. The Assistant assists with contacts and preparation of various report and other materials. Volunteers are counseled by the attorney on the protection of children's rights and attends every court hearing.

This program was implemented in May, 1990 and has represented 461 children. During the 1995-96 fiscal year, GAL received over 1,600 reports of abuse via the state abuse registry.

Florida currently has over 10,000 children in foster care. The overall goal would be to have every child represented; however, GAL currently represents approximately 45% of children state-wide.

Centralized Court Reporting is Live
For The Record (FTR), a centralized court reporting software application marketed by the Dictaphone Corporation, was installed as a pilot program in the Thomas S. Kirk Juvenile Justice Center the first of the year. As a result of this innovative court reporting measure, the Electronic Court Reporters (ECRs) have recently been removed from the courtrooms and are presently monitoring courts from their office using PCS and FTR software to record and document court proceedings.

Cameras have been installed in the courtrooms, hearing rooms, and deposition rooms at Juvenile and the ECRs are monitoring the proceedings from their office on closed circuit TV. It is planned to have centralized court reporting in place for County Traffic, County Criminal, Child Support Hearing Rooms, and the nine deposition rooms all being monitored from the ECR Office at the 1st floor of Building A when the doors to the new courthouse open. Ron Johnson noted that FTR has been successfully implemented in other courts across the country and has served as a cost-savings tool. In fact, Ron estimates that when fully implemented, the system will save Orange County approximately a half million dollars a year in labor costs.

With Dictaphone's Windows NT and Microsoft SQL based application, County Judges and Court Administrators will have the ability to access, listen, and make notes to the transcript at any point during court proceedings.

Additionally, these notes are fully searchable and Judges and others will be able to listen to recorded proceedings from any PC on the NT network including chambers and offices. In order to ensure that the ECRs receive training in the new system, team leaders were selected to become experts in the FTR system. Patty Drummond, Gloria Rivera and Harriet Wills will be responsible for training, trouble-shooting and the day-to-day operations of a team of centralized court reporters, under the direction of Jean Williams, Coordinator, and Donna Simpson, Administrative Assistant.

It's an exciting time in the ECR office and the Juvenile ECR Office should be commended for all their perseverance and diligence in implementing this new system. Special thanks to Dani Dotts for her active involvement in making this project a reality.

CIRCUIT COURT REVIEW

Planning Conference
The Second Annual Ninth Judicial Circuit Court Conference was held on May 2-4, 1997 at the Sheraton Harbortown Resort in Palm Coast, Florida. Participants from both the Orange and Osceola Judiciary, Court Administration and both Clerk of Court Offices focused on Division specific and Circuit-wide topics.

The Court's Goals continue to focus on the following areas:

  1. Promote responsible technology and automated procedures

  2. Develop and efficiently use resources

  3. Improve public access (physically, procedurally and economically)

  4. Inform the public regarding our role and programs

  5. Enhance relationships with inside and outside entities

  6. Promote professionalism

  7. Develop and support alternative dispute resolution methods

Circuit Picnic
The Ninth Judicial Circuit Court Picnic was held on May 17, 1997 at the Moss Park Recreation Facility.  The Judge's softball team beat Court Administration with a stunning, last inning rally culminating in a 6-5 victory. Kudos go to both squads for a well played game. Many thanks go to the Picnic Committee who contributed their time to make this event occur.

Softball Champs
On April 19, 1997 (Judge) Grincewicz' Gangstas softball team defeated the Department of Juvenile Justice's team by a score of 7-3 and hold the current trophy. The Gangstas' record is now 1-1 with their only loss to the State Attorney's Office. This team is a cooperative alliance between Judges Dawson, Gincewicz, Mihok and Wattles (injured reserve); Court Administration Maribel Luteran, Chuck Hydovitz and Ernie Bednar; Judicial Assistant Darlene Mahaleris and Orange Co. Court Deputies Howard Maddox, Marlene Kirkland and Judy Slater. The Gangstas readily defend their turf against all opponents!

Material Safety Data Sheets
 In compliance with OSHA Title 29, Code of Fed. Regulations Part 1910.1200 and Chapter 42 of the Fl. Statutes, each Dept. must have a written program informing employees of dangerous materials in the workplace & safe handling of toxic substances. Your section should have previously submitted a Material Safety Data Sheet to Court Administration. If you have not, please take the time and complete one. Please remember to include innocuous items such as white out, copier toner and cleaning supplies. Anytime you discover or introduce a new hazardous material, please update your Material Safety Data Sheet and submit it to Court Administration.

New Performance Evaluation Procedures
The Ninth Judicial Circuit has adopted a new performance appraisal system modeled after the performance appraisal system recently adopted by the State Courts System. The performance appraisal system will be used for all employees assigned to Court Administration. Judicial assistants, as personal staff to judges, will be exempt from performance appraisals. The three major components of the performance appraisal system are: performance planning, communication, and review.

It provides for performance planning and goal setting between the supervisor and the employee at the beginning of the review period, emphasizes continuous communication between the supervisor and the employee during the review period, and finally, allows the supervisor and the employee by mutual agreement to evaluate the employee's performance of assigned duties and the accomplishment of defined goals at the end of the review period. The appraisal forms are available in hard copy and on diskette in WordPerfect format.

In addition, the completed forms can be submitted via Exchange\Outlook. We feel confident the proposed performance planning and review system will serve as an effective tool for helping employees develop their potential, thus creating a more productive work force.

The Court welcomes
 Cathy Akers, Judicial Assistant; Robin Drake, Senior Secretary; Darius Hill, Assistant Teen Court Coordinator; Darlene Mahaleris, Judicial Assistant; Sonja Maylor, Jury Services Assistant and Ed Shemanski, Network Analyst.

COURT PROJECTS

In order to fully view the Court's Goals And Objectives, you may access them on the internet at http://ninja9.org/courtadmin/Goals&Objectives.htm

In Planning

The Circuit Civil Division Judges are reviewing the feasibility of implementing a "Complex Litigation Division." The purpose of this program will be to identify and divert specific cases which would normally over-utilize the Court's time and resources. Intensive case management will be applied to ensure complicated cases traverse the judicial system in a timely manner.

Rosalie Serros has been selected to serve as the volunteer Public Information Coordinator for the New Orange County Courthouse. Rosalie will coordinate, manage, schedule, and recruit for the new information desk.  The Court is coordinating the operation of the Public Information booth for the new Orange County Courthouse. The booth will be manned and managed by volunteers under the guidance of Court Administration. The purpose of the booth is to provide a central point of access for the public to receive information brochures, general direction, and assistance.

In Progress

Court Interpreting - Two issues facing the court (quality/reliability and cost) will be addressed by the addition of two Spanish staff interpreters. Applicants are required to achieve a passing score on an exam offered by the University of Central Florida. Chief Judge Perry stated that he is very committed to effectively controlling costs and responding to the diverse language needs of the Ninth Circuit Court.  Asst. Court Administrator Karen Levey indicated the interpreters should be hired in August. Currently, 66% of Orange County interpreter requests are for Spanish and 17% for Creole. Ms. Levey stated this partnership has been excellent and is the first step towards ensuring language proficiency of interpreters utilized by the Court. Court Administration will be developing uniform interpreting procedures for Orange and Osceola Counties and offering interpreter workshops which will include courtroom demeanor, procedures and protocol.

Family Ties - Circuit Judge Robert Evans has been instrumental in developing a family visitation program designed to unite children with non-custodial parents in volatile domestic cases. The Orange County Board of Commissioners approved funding in June, 1997 and will be a cooperative effort between the Circuit Court, Orange County Sheriff's Department and the Orange County School Board. The program is scheduled to begin in September, 1997.

JUVENILE COURT

The Circuit Court announces the initial planning of the Sexual Abuse Intervention Network (SAIN). SAIN is a community-based, multi-disciplinary, inter-agency case and services management systems network. It is designed to address the needs of juvenile sex offenders, their victims and families.

A Letter of Agreement has been signed between the Court, State Attorney, Public Defender, Orange County Bar Association GAL, law enforcement agencies, mental health units and non-profit organizations to work together to establish guidelines, training, policy & procedure and pooling scarce resources. The network will promote the exchange of case appropriate information between multi-agency groups dealing with juvenile sex offenders and their victims.

COMPUTER TIPS

Sending Internet E-mail Through Exchange/Outlook:  Through Exchange/Outlook, computer users located in the Orange County Civil and Juvenile Court Buildings can send and receive Internet e-mail. To send e-mail, enter the Internet e-mail address in the To: dialogue box of the send message screen. The Internet e-mail addresses can be stored in and accessed from the personal address book (Exchange & Outlook) and/or Contacts (Outlook). Users receive Internet e-mail in the same manner as they would receive all e-mail. When mail is received, Exchange\Outlook provides on-screen notification of new mail and the mail arrives in the In-Box.  All users have the following Internet e-mail address: User Logon (e.g., ctadmb1).ziggy@citizens-first.co.orange.state.fl.us.

Creating Additional Storage Space On The Hard Drive By Removing Files:  Over time, as you add and remove programs, old files will collect on your disk drive. The average disk drive is filled to 10% of capacity with data files. The other 90% of storage is comprised of applications. The fastest way to free up disk space is to UnInstall old programs. You can simply click on the folder where the program resides and delete it. However, there may be files located in other folders or entries in the Registry that will not be deleted through this process. These files will probably stay lost in the file system forever. Most new applications come with an UnInstall program that will delete all traces of the un-wanted application, including entries made in the system Registry. When removing applications, the first option should always be to run the application's UnInstall program. If you installed applications designed for Windows 95 by using the Add/Remove Programs option in Control Panel, you can safely remove these applications in the same manner.

Providing Access Rights to GroupWise Applications:  Users of GroupWise in Osceola County can provide access rights to their e-mail and calendars to other GroupWise users. This can be limited to reading another user's on-line calendar and reviewing e-mail to greater access, such as setting and editing calendar appointments.  To provide a user with access to your GroupWise application(s), choose File, Preferences. Select Access List from the Preferences list box, and Add Users. Once you have added a user to your access list, check the selected access rights for each user. To access another user's GroupWise application, chose File, Proxy. Then from the Proxy dialogue box, select the User. Use this same method to toggle between your GroupWise application and the other user's application. This feature allows a user to set appointments for another user directly from his\her computer. Note: Only the user can provide another user with access rights. No other user can provide access rights to your calendar.

DID YOU KNOW

CONSTRUCTION ZONE

Final construction efforts are being completed in order for the move to begin in August. Following are anticipated time frames for Departmental moves: State Attorney (end of August), Public Defender (end of September), Circuit Court (end of October thru December). The final schedule is subject to change, but is anticipated to be completed by the end of 1997.

 

 

 

 

 

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

The following is a synopsis of state-wide events concerning the judiciary and Ninth Circuit Court staff.

FINANCIAL UPDATE

Once again, U.S. Savings Bonds are available to be purchased independently or by increasing your current payroll deduction. The enrollment period ends August 1. Interest earned on U.S. Savings Bonds is exempt from local and state income tax. You can also defer Federal income tax until you cash your Bond or it stops earning interest in 30 years. Bonds currently yield a competitive rate of return and the initial investment will grow during the life (30 years) of the bond. Bonds can be redeemed anytime after six months. However, the longer you retain the bond, its cash value increases. Persons interested in this opportunity should contact Geri Wenzel at 836-2050.

The Sound Block is a quarterly publication courtesy of the:

Ninth Judicial Circuit Court
Court Administrator's Office
Orange Co. Civil Court Building, Suite 1130
37 North Orange Avenue
Orlando, Florida 32801
(407) 836-2050

Edited & Published By:
Charles L. Hydovitz
Deputy Court Administrator

Under the Direction of: The Hon. Belvin Perry, Jr. Chief Judge
Matt Benefiel, Court Administrator

The Sound Block can be viewed on the Internet at:
http://www.ninja9.org/blocknews.htm