THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, March 12, 1996 TAG: 9603120258
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ANGELITA PLEMMER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Long : 102 lines
State records showing Portsmouth has Virginia's largest backlog of pending Circuit Court cases are inaccurate because clerks failed to notify the state Supreme Court when cases were closed, according to a state official reviewing office procedures.
At least 3,000 civil and criminal cases that should have been closed out by clerks were still listed as pending, said Paul DeLosh, a technical assistant with the high court who is conducting the review at the behest of the city's chief judge.
There are so many problems with record-keeping of pending cases DeLosh said that it will take him and three assistants four to six months to examine all of the records.
The discovery of the inaccuracies could affect funding and staffing levels for the Circuit Court Clerk's office, DeLosh said. The state Compensation Board uses caseloads to determine those levels. It is too early to assess how funding or staffing could be affected.
City manager Ronald W. Massie said Friday he agreed to authorize the hiring of three temporary assistants who would work 20 hours a week for up to six months, to help DeLosh review the records. The request, Massie said, came from Circuit Judge Norman Olitsky, the city's chief judge. Olitsky could not be reached for comment Monday.
The assistants, who would begin on March 26, would work independently of Circuit Court Clerk Walter ``Square'' Edmonds and his staff, Massie said.
In 1994, Supreme Court records indicate, that there were 5,526 cases filed in the city's Circuit Court. And while 5,723 cases from 1994 and previous years were concluded, 11,101 cases were still pending, saddling Portsmouth with what appeared to be the highest backlog of cases in the state.
The average number of pending cases per judge in Virginia in 1994 was 1,543. In Portsmouth, the number was 2,775.
But now those numbers are suspect, DeLosh said.
``The clerk's office wasn't closing these cases on the computer system,'' DeLosh said. ``They didn't understand how to do it.''
Edmonds said Monday that his staff has received ``excellent training.''
``They have seminars in Richmond, and whenever they have them, we send them there,'' Edmonds said. ``I send them to wherever DeLosh tells me to send them.''
DeLosh's preliminary findings come at a time when the Portsmouth judicial system is under scrutiny on several fronts.
In 1995, the city had a record 37 homicides. Portsmouth had the highest violent crime rate in South Hampton Roads in 1994, and in 1993 it ranked among the top 25 cities in the nation in per-capita homicides.
The city has been faced with criticisms of slow courts, low bonds and problems with witness intimidation. As a result, officials have enacted several new law enforcement and judicial initiatives to combat violence, including a joint federal task force composed of Portsmouth police and FBI agents.
Olitsky requested help from the Supreme Court after he learned that in 1994, Hampton Roads had four of the five slowest criminal courts in Virginia, with Portsmouth leading the pack.
DeLosh arrived five weeks ago after Olitsky wrote to Robert Baldwin, executive secretary of the state Supreme Court. DeLosh said he has reviewed several thousand files, but could not give a total. Last week, Delosh met with judges from the Circuit Court to discuss his preliminary findings.
DeLosh would not comment on whether the office is mismanaged. But he did say there were problems with case processing, staff training, procedures for providing access to case files and instances where papers from court files were found on the floor instead of in file folders.
``Training is a major issue in all aspects,'' particularly on the computer system that relays information to the state Supreme Court, DeLosh said.
The current review of Portsmouth records is the most extensive he has conducted in his three years as a technical assistant for the state's 121 circuit court offices, DeLosh said. He also said that this was the first time he has had to bring in assistants to help conduct a review.
So far, DeLosh said he has made several preliminary recommendations to Edmonds:
Installing computers in the courtrooms so clerks can immediately enter orders and perform other duties while in the courtroom.
Limiting behind-the-counter access of files to clerks only.
Changing the office's locks so non-employees with keys to the clerk's office will no longer have unsupervised access to files.
Appointing a chief deputy clerk.
In response, Edmonds has appointed a chief deputy clerk and has changed office procedures so that access to files is more closely supervised.
Edmonds said of DeLosh's other findings: ``I can't monitor every employee in my office.''
``I'm not going to do anything until he finishes his survey,'' Edmonds added. ``Whatever he suggests, I'm going to do with the approval of the judges.''
DeLosh said he expects to remain in the clerk's office for more than six months, although a management analysis usually lasts only several weeks.
``If the clerk approves of the policies and procedures I suggest . . . I just want to make sure what they put in place is followed through,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
Caseload Review
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KEYWORDS: PORSTMOUTH CIRCUIT COURT by CNB