Weighted caseload study to be released; next step is judge-need formula

By Robert Brick, Office of Court Operations

The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) has completed its 18-month study of judicial workload in Wisconsin's circuit courts. NCSC staff delivered the working draft of the judicial needs assessment in late December and was expected to finalize the report in late January.

The formula will help the director of state courts to identify counties with the most pressing need. For example, if County A and County B both need one judge, and County A currently has one judge but County B currently has 10 judges, the per-judge workload in County A is quite a bit higher. When the director has identified the counties, work on a judgeship bill can begin.

That we are able to start 2007 with discussion of a judgeship bill is a testament to the value of this weighted caseload study, an effort that differs from the studies conducted in 1980 and 1995 in at least five important ways:

• First, it uses information from all courts, rather than a sample of information from a few courts. 240 of the state's 241 judges and 109 circuit court commissioners participated in the study's data collection effort.
• Second, it integrates the work of the circuit court commissioners into the calculation of judicial officer need.
• Third, it takes into account all judicial time, not just specific case-related time.
• Fourth, it incorporates judicial time for both post-judgment activity and "uncontested" cases into the case weights.
• Fifth, it acknowledges the administrative and managerial responsibilities of the chief judges by assigning an administrative need of one full-time judge position to the First Judicial District and a half-time judge position to each of the other nine districts.

The final report shows a workload-based need for 12.2 additional judicial officers statewide. This is derived by subtracting the actual number of 241 judges and the estimated number of 84.35 circuit court commissioners from the 337.5 judicial officers needed to process the cases in our circuit courts. Adding the 5.5 chief judge administrative need increases the need to 17.7 additional judicial officers.

In addition to providing new case weights, the NCSC report offers four recommendations for the future:

1. Create a standing committee to conduct annual reviews of the effect of new legislation or policies on case weights.

2. Update workload standards every five years with funding allocated as part of the process for assessing judicial need.

3. Conduct regular audits of data entry and collection to ensure the integrity and reliability of the workload standards.

4. Use a three-year average of case filings when determining judicial need.

Now that we have gathered solid data to justify the need, the Director’s Office plans to formulate a judgeship bill to be introduced in spring 2007. Between now and then, we’ll develop the formula that will help us calculate which counties have the highest judge need, and those will be our counties. The formula will take into account the individual county’s judge–need and county support as well as the judicial district’s need.

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