
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, December 21, 1993                   TAG: 9312210156
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

ANOTHER JUDGESHIP ENDORSED

Juvenile court judges in the Roanoke Valley, burdened with caseloads that sometimes keep them on the bench into the night, may get some help next year.

The Committee on District Courts has recommended that the General Assembly create a new judgeship for the 23rd Judicial District, which includes Roanoke, Roanoke County and Salem.

"I think it will make a significant difference in the services this court can offer," said Joseph Clarke, chief judge of the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.

The three judges who preside in the district have recently been experiencing caseload increases of about 12 percent a year, Clarke said.

Since the third judgeship was created in 1978, the annual number of new cases has increased by 66 percent, he said, and the number of new hearings by 105 percent.

As a result, witnesses, juveniles and their parents often spend hours waiting for their cases to be heard. Delays are most frequent in Roanoke County, where, Clarke said, it's not unusual for an afternoon session to end at 7 or 8 p.m.

Although there is no guarantee the judgeship will be approved, the General Assembly usually follows the recommendation of the Committee on District Courts, a group of judges and legislators.

If the judgeship is approved, it will likely be filled at the same session - prompting the second campaign among valley lawyers for bar endorsements in less than a year. In July, John Ferguson was appointed to replace a retiring judge.

Last year, Clarke and his two colleagues averaged about 5,000 new cases, more than the statewide average, and about 10,500 hearings.

With a new judge, Clarke said, "we will be able to get cases into the courts sooner and spend more time on them when they get there."

The Committee on District Courts has also recommended new juvenile judges in five other districts, including ones that cover Franklin and Bedford counties, according to Edie Devlin, administrative assistant to the executive secretary of the state Supreme Court.

by CNB