Planning and Policy Advisory Committee

Planning and Policy Advisory Committee (PPAC) advises the Supreme Court and the director of state courts on planning initiatives, the administrative structure of the court system and the expeditious handling of judicial matters. The committee functions as the court system’s long-range planning committee.

Legislative Liaison Nancy Rottier gives a report at the August 2005 PPAC meeting. From left are Deborah Brescoll, budget officer; Rottier; Waukesha County Board Chair James Dwyer; Judge Diane M. Nicks, Dane County; Chief Judge Kathryn W. Foster, Waukesha County; Assistant State Public Defender Michael Tobin; and Municipal Judge David Nispel, city of Middleton.

PPAC consists of the chief justice of the Supreme Court, one judge of the Court of Appeals (selected by the Court of Appeals), 13 circuit court judges (elected in the judicial administrative districts), one municipal judge (elected by the Wisconsin Municipal Judges’ Association), two persons selected by the Board of Governors of the State Bar of Wisconsin and the following persons appointed by the chief justice: three non-lawyers (one of whom shall be an elected county official), one public defender, one court administrator, one prosecutor, one clerk of circuit court and one court commissioner (selected alternately for one term by the WI Family Court Commissioners Association and WI Association of Judicial Court Commissioners).

SCR 70.14
Current membership
Minutes from recent meetings: May 2007 |February 2007 update | November 2006

Strategic Planning for the Wisconsin Court System

In 1993, PPAC laid the foundation for fulfilling its role as the system’s long-range planning committee by initiating a strategic planning process for the court system. The strategic plan, entitled "Framework for Action," was published in July 1994. This document provides the Wisconsin court system with a general direction for the next decade. The plan articulates a mission and vision statement for the court system, identifies the system’s strengths and weaknesses and creates a strategy for addressing the critical issues facing the courts.

PPAC completed a review and update of "Framework for Action" in August 2000. The committee re-examined its role within the court system, discussed trends and their potential impact, and identified and prioritized key issues to address.

Planning Subcommittee

To further strengthen its planning functions, PPAC established a planning subcommittee. The eight-member subcommittee meets five to six times per year, gathers input from a variety of sources within and outside the court system and identifies the critical issues facing the system.

Current Planning Activities

In spring of 2005 the subcommittee began working on planning activities for the 2006-2008 biennium. The planning process was modified so PPAC recommendations align with the state budget cycle. Under the new planning timeline, goals and priorities are established in tandem with the budget process.

For the current cycle, the subcommittee recently embarked on a major data collection effort and launched an online planning survey. Internal and external court stakeholders were invited to provide input on future court priorities. The survey was located on the main page of the Wisconsin Court System web site and was open to all who visited the site. Nearly 600 respondents completed the survey which provided the subcommittee with important and valuable feedback to consider while crafting its 2006-2008 planning recommendations.

Thank you to all who completed the online PPAC Planning Survey. Your feedback in this process is important and appreciated. To view a document of the online survey questions, click here. To view a summary of the survey results, click here.

From November to January, the subcommittee worked on drafting its recommendations to PPAC and the Supreme Court based on the information collected from the survey, feedback from PPAC members, and the expertise of planning committee members. In its February 9 th meeting, PPAC approved the final recommendations and has now presented it formally in report form to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is currently in the process of reviewing this report titled Revised “Critical Issues: Planning Priorities for the Wisconsin Court System 2006-2008.”

For questions about planning activities, please contact Shelly Cyrulik, senior policy analyst, at (608) 266-8861.

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Court system budget

Supreme Court Rule 70.14 (4) provides that PPAC shall be kept fully and timely informed by the director of state courts about all budgetary matters affecting the judiciary. This enables PPAC to participate in the budget process.

PPAC’s primary role in the budget process is to ensure that budget initiatives conform to the goals of the court system as set forth in the strategic plan.

Current projects

Circuit Court Judge Diane M. Nicks, Dane County, and Chief Judge Kathryn W. Foster, Waukesha County, join Atty. Michael Tobin, director of the Trial Division of the State Public Defender's Office, at a recent PPAC meeting. Among other business, members reviewed an updated guide to videoconferencing in the Wisconsin courts, Bridging the Distance 2005.

Videoconferencing in Wisconsin Courts
Videoconferencing is an interactive technology that sends video, voice and data signals over a transmission circuit so that two or more individuals or groups at distant locations can communicate with each other simultaneously using video monitors and microphones. The use of this technology in the justice system may save prisoner transportation costs, improve courthouse security, improve health care to prisoners through telemedicine, allow witness testimony in civil cases, reduce logistical barriers to conducting meetings and provide access to additional training/educational opportunities.

PPAC and the Wisconsin Counties Association jointly convened the Statewide Videoconferencing Committee in 1998, and developed a standards of good practice manual entitled “Bridging the Distance: Implementing Videoconferencing in Wisconsin.”

More recently, in February 2004, PPAC reactivated its videoconferencing subcommittee to update the technical standards contained in the " Bridging the Distance" document. The subcommittee is also examining the need for new laws or rules to encourage greater use of videoconferencing in Wisconsin courtrooms.

“Bridging the Distance 2005: Implementing Videoconferencing in Wisconsin” and other videoconferencing resources are available here.

Effective Justice Strategies (formerly Alternatives to Incarceration)
In the spring of 2004, PPAC created a subcommittee to research and provide recommendations in the area of alternatives to incarceration. The mission of the  subcommittee is to “explore and assess the effectiveness of policies and programs designed to improve public safety and reduce incarceration.” For the remainder of 2004 and throughout 2005, the subcommittee researched the various policies and programs related to alternatives and began to define areas to focus its efforts. Four major working groups within the subcommittee have been created to address specific topics: problem solving courts, criminal justice coordinating councils (CJCC’s), other justice system practices, and the Assess, Inform and Measure (AIM) pilot project.

Please visit the Effective Justice Strategies Clearinghouse for information.

Facility and Security Standards
In 1994, PPAC initiated a review of facility, security and staffing issues in the circuit courts. The result was Supreme Court Rule 70.39 , adopted in June 1995, establishing facility, security and staffing guidelines. Since the adoption of the rule, PPAC has collected information twice a year from each county to measure the courts’ progress in complying with these guidelines, and to obtain detailed information about security incidents involving judges and other court staff. The data collected by PPAC has proven useful in maintaining voluntary compliance with SCR 70.39 , in sharing information between counties as they undertake new facility construction or security initiatives, and in documenting security incidents to demonstrate to county officials the need for enhanced courthouse security systems.

If you are the county security committee chairperson, or other individual, responsible for completing PPAC's semi-annual Court Security and Facilities Update Form, the password-protected form is now found online. Click here to complete the update form.

At its November 2006 meeting, PPAC voted to convene a new subcommittee on Court Security. This subcommittee will review SCR 70.39 along with the other recommendations related to court security outlined in the Critical Issues Report.

For questions, contact Shelly Cyrulik at (608) 266-8861

View the July 2007 Security and Facilities Report .

Past projects

Court Efficiencies
In 2005, PPAC created a subcommittee to examine potential efficiencies that could be created within the court system. The mission of the court efficiencies subcommittee is to “examine the legal process and recommend way to create a more efficient system by modifying or creating certain court procedures and policies while protecting the rights of litigants.” The subcommittee investigated the following policy and procedural areas: plea colloquies, judicial caseload rotation, and criminal procedures.

The subcommittee has concluded its work and prepared a final report with recommendations. This report was approved by the full PPAC on August 10, 2006.

Subcommittee on Court Effiencies Final Report and Recommendations

Court Financing Subcommittee
In response to increasing concerns about the funding of the state court system and the growing frequency of calls for full state funding, in May 2002 PPAC created the Court Financing Subcommittee. The charge of the subcommittee was to sort through issues associated with the funding and delivery of court services and identify a stable, effective and responsible financing mechanism.

The subcommittee responsibilities were to:
•  Review Wisconsin's current court financing system, past Wisconsin court studies and court financing in other states.
•  Define a uniform level of court services that should be provided throughout the state and determine associated costs.
•  Evaluate financing and administrative options to support court services, and look at the responsibilities of state and local governments and policy and implementation issues.

The subcommittee consisted of representatives of the circuit and appellate courts, counties and the public, and met seven times from December 2002 to January 2004. Their final report (and accompanying executive summary ) was approved by PPAC in February 2004.

Fees and Surcharges Subcommittee
PPAC created a fees and surcharges subcommittee in 1999 in response to the proliferation of court-imposed surcharges and the difficulty in collecting them. Since 1987, the number of surcharges in Wisconsin has nearly tripled, while surcharge revenue has increased more than 500%.

Subcommittee members were asked to gather facts and figures concerning the current structure used to impose and collect fines (criminal cases), forfeitures (civil cases) and court filing fees, as well as the surcharges imposed upon fines and forfeitures. Their final report (and accompanying fee chart ) was approved by PPAC in 2001 and published in November of that year. PPAC envisioned that the report would be a useful factual tool in explaining a complex system in the simplest terms possible.

The subcommittee report led PPAC to offer legislation to simplify statutory references to court-imposed surcharges.  That effort was successful when the Legislature passed the bill and Governor Doyle signed it into law as 2004 Wisconsin Act 139.  The new law consolidates all court-imposed surcharges under one section of the statutes and requires a fiscal estimate for any future bills that seek to modify a surcharge or create a new one.  The PPAC planning subcommittee's 2004 final report also highlights this issue and recommends further steps to address it.

Alternative dispute resolution
Members of PPAC’s Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) subcommittee created a valuable research and learning tool using surveys of judges and attorneys. The subcommittee created an ADR Clearinghouse on the court system’s Web site that contains information on the nature and circumstances of the use of various ADR methods among both of these groups. Court personnel and other interested parties can access this information when considering new ADR programs or modifications to existing programs.

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Court reporting

Court administrators have been coping with a shortage of official court reporters for years. They often have difficulties providing adequate coverage. PPAC appointed a subcommittee to examine this issue from a long-term perspective and come up with possible solutions. The subcommittee recommended a digital audio recording system for each county to be used as a backup when a stenographic reporter is unavailable. The technology would assist in the creation and preservation of the court record, while also maintaining a commitment to the court system’s official reporters.

Court Reporting Subcommittee Findings and Recommendations report

Court Commissioners

In 1994, as a result of data collection, interviews and hearings, PPAC issued a study entitled, "Report and Recommendations on the Role of Wisconsin Court Commissioners." The study focused on the functions of court commissioners and the administrative structure needed to ensure system accountability. The Supreme Court reviewed this report and requested that PPAC submit an implementation plan for its recommendations. In accordance with the Supreme Court’s request, PPAC petitioned the Court to adopt rules regulating court commissioners.

The Court adopted Supreme Court Rule 75 in March 1998 to provide for the appointment, performance evaluation, continuing education and discipline of judicial court commissioners.

For more information on PPAC contact:

Shelly Cyrulik, Senior Policy Analyst
110 E. Main St., Ste. 410
Madison, WI  53703
Phone: (608) 266-8861
Fax: (608) 267-0911.

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