Judicial Council Monthly Court Activity Reports

Sandra Mabbett

Judicial Information Analyst

Office of Court Administration

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

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)

Publications Court Activity Reporting and Directory System

http://card.txcourts.gov

Texas Judicial System Annual Report http://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

Resources

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

Required Reporting Websitehttp://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

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

Judicial Directoryhttp://card.txcourts.gov/DirectorySearch.aspx

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

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

Report Submission

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.govto obtain a User ID and password or for password resets

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.

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

CARD – Court Activity and Reporting Directory System

http://card.txcourts.gov

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

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

available A Login ID is not needed to access public information.

Public Court Activity Data:New Data (District/County Courts for 9/1/10 and

later &Justice/Municipal Courts for 9/1/11 and later):

Old Data (District/County Courts Prior to 9/1/10 &Justice/Municipal Courts Prior to 9/1/11):

Run Reports Ad Hoc Search

Directory Search http://card.txcourts.gov/DirectorySearch.aspx

Click on Public Judicial Directory

CARD – Court Activity and Reporting Directory System

For additional information on running reports or searching the directory, refer to the separate handouts provided

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

Report Submission RemindersDocument DOCUMENT DOCUMENT!!!!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

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

Report Submission Reminders Reports that are out of balance should be

corrected before submitting any subsequent months

Report Submission Reminders Keep copies of any reports run from

your system for a minimum of 2 years

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.

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

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?

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

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

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

Upcoming Changes to

the Civil Section

Changes to Civil Section House Bill 79 abolishes the small claims court

effective August 31, 2013 House Bill 79 does not 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

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

Changes to Civil Section New form effective September 1, 2013 Form, Instructions and Civil Case Information

Sheet found on the Required Reporting Website

Changes to Civil Section Current

New effective 9/1/2013

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

Questions

Sandra Mabbett, Judicial Information Analystsandra.mabbett@txcourts.gov

(512)463-1640 phone(512) 936-2423 fax

Angela Garcia, Judicial Information Managerangela.garcia@txcourts.gov

(512) 936-1358 phone

QuestionsSandra Mabbett, Judicial Information Analyst

sandra.mabbett@txcourts.gov (512)463-1640 phone(512) 936-2423 fax

Katherine Martinez, Judicial Information Specialistkatherine.martinez@txcourts.gov

(512)463-3789Angela Garcia, Judicial Information Manager

angela.garcia@txcourts.gov (512) 936-1358 phone