Panel to review court processes
Also, Chief Judge Tami Colston announces a new drug court in Floyd County.
The Court Reform Council appointed by Gov. Nathan Deal will hold its first meeting Tuesday in Atlanta.
State Rep. Christian Coomer, R-Cartersville, has one of the 11 slots. He said the goal is to find ways to make the state’s judicial court system and administrative hearing system operate more efficiently.
The council — which includes lawmakers, judges and attorneys — is chaired by Attorney General Chris Carr.
Coomer, an attorney and the House majority whip, said Wednesday they would be reviewing the process, not the laws. A report with legislative recommendations is due by the end of the year.
“It’s not designed to step on the territory of any other group or agency,” he said. “It’s an opportunity to listen to suggestions to improve the court system as a whole.”
While the agenda has not yet been set, Coomer said he expects the council will hear from a range of stakeholders, from private industry to advocacy groups and clerks of court.
Floyd County Superior Court Chief Judge Tami Colston said one issue is that procedures differ from one court to another.
New technology could help streamline the process.
“And the governor loves these accountability courts,” she said. “I expect that to be a big push — to make sure every county has one.”
Floyd County has had a mental health court for a little over a year, and Colston said Wednesday they’ve just been awarded a state grant to start a drug court. She hopes to have it up and running by Aug. 1.
“It’s going to be for the worst of the worst, the people you would give up on,” she said.
Colston said the voluntary, comprehensive, twoyear rehabilitation program is based on the idea that eliminating the demand is more effective than putting drug dealers in jail.
“Get the addicts off the street and they’ll go out of business. That’s the way to fight the war on drugs,” she said.
“We’re going to do whatever we can to save a life and give these parents back their children,” she added. “I know they’re not all children, but everyone is someone’s child.”
Floyd County Clerk of Court Barbara Penson is in the middle of replacing her decades-old computerized records system with case management software that could become the base for a statewide network. She said the new technology could eventually link with systems across the nation.
“That means a person couldn’t go down to Florida and commit a crime and come back here with no record of it,” Penson said. “But it would be a big help to the state if we could just be networked like Alabama is.”
For now, the county’s files will be accessible online by local agencies such as the district attorney’s office, the jail and police departments. Technicians are coming in early June to start transferring old records to the new system. Coomer said the council’s purview is wide open. It’s meant to act as a sounding board and first point of evaluation.
“We’re looking at a macro concept of statewide policies and applications that will help various courts across the state,” he said.
He sees his own role as a bit of a brake.
“In the Legislature we say that sometimes what we don’t pass is more important than what we do pass,” he said with a chuckle. “It may be the role of a practicing attorney on this council is to make sure things aren’t made worse.”