Public may soon be able to view Humboldt Superior Court case management system from home; this is one of the many future changes under the leadership of new Court CEO

Humboldt County Superior Court CEO Kim Bartleson started in October 2015. In just four months, there have been some visible changes and others that the public will be seeing in the future. She comes to Humboldt County with 22 years of experience as a CEO in Washington State.

As someone who spends a lot of time and daily at the Courthouse, within days of Ms. Bartleson taking over, the most obvious changes I saw were in staff morale and information to the public. Even with last minute changes, the electronic calendars are more up to date now. Unlike her predecessor, Ms. Bartleson is very accessible and helpful.

I asked Ms. Bartleson for an interview about these changes and what else we can expect under her leadership.

Clarifying further on what District Attorney Maggie Fleming told me, Ms. Bartleson explained that Jason Warren and some concerns about the facility he was housed at after his conviction for two murders and two attempted murders. Citing the penal code, Ms. Bartleson explained to me that when Warren was transferred here for the homicide case. he was serving a sentence on an older case in a prison facility. Had he not been brought back, the paperwork for the homicide case when he was transported from Humboldt County jail would have accompanied him. After his recent conviction, Warren was sent back to the original facility and he is in transit to the facility where he will serve out his life sentences for the murders of Suzanne Seemann and Dorothy Ulrich and his sentences for the attempted murders of Terri Vroman-Little and Jessica Hunt.

Late last year, changes were implemented with one court hearing all felony cases and one court hears all misdemeanor cases and the other courts hear jury trials. This change was implemented the reduce the backlog of jury trials. Whether a case has a full day trial or half day depends on the caseload.

According to Ms. Bartleson, "As of right now, there are 366 criminal jury trials set. Between the time period of 9/25/15 – 12/25/15 there were 626 criminal jury trials set."

Ms. Bartelson said that she is working on improving and changing the way some things have been done in the past to increase efficiency in Humboldt Superior Court. "I am working on restructuring, on staff assignments, cross training the staff and working on getting the public access to the clerk's office back to the hours of 8:30-4."

Even though the hours were cut due to state funding, Ms. Bartleson feels with the restructuring, it is possible to achieve that goal.

Presiding Judge Joyce Hinrichs took the lead and asked staff to submit ideas. One of those ideas that has been implemented in the last couple of weeks is that there is a person from Court Operations from 8 to 8:45 a.m. and 1 to 1:45 p.m. available to answer questions from the public regarding their cases, what courtroom they need to be at, help with the calendars. "I want staff to be part of the solution and not opposition. I have good staff."

Ms. Bartleson said she is trying to figure out "a way that when you get a ticket and you get out of court, you can pay that right away to staff available on the 2nd floor." Consolidating space spread out throughout the facility to make it more efficient is something she is working on a regular basis.

Ms. Bartleson said that "we are in the beginning of improving the current case management system, SUSTAIN, which is not an ecourt system. It was put in place to facilitate streamlining. Statewide some courts have switchd to other case management systems which do not require physical records. Electronic records and electronic filing is possible and we are researching what system will be best for our needs."

The public will only have access to case management information that is permitted to be available to the public. The new case management system will be implemented within the next two to three years.

Ms. Bartleson said that she met with staff this Monday and they are working on workflow mapping. This will help with training, it will also help people define people and the work they do within their classification. "I'm all for people getting paid for what they do."

"Humboldt County has 100,000 less population than where I was before," said Ms. Bartleson. "The issues we are working through here are issues I have worked through before. Washington law is different than California law."

"As jury commissioner, I will be presenting a process in two weeks to the Judges for people who ignore jury summons," said Ms. Bartleson. "Initially, they get a letter with another date. The part I need to present and get approval from Judges is that if they ignore that letter, an order of cause could be issued."

All of the second floor is court space, not just the courtrooms and  is off limits to cameras and recordings unless a media request is approved. Ms. Bartleson said she understands the challenges that media and the Judges face with last minute arraignments or dates but that her staff works diligently to process these requests as quickly as they can.

Media access and court rules are based on Court rule 1.150. They can be changed by the California Supreme Court.

The County has made a request under Measure Z funding for $50,000 to move the law library. The real estate unit of the Judicial Council has to approve any change in court facilities. Once the law library is moved, it will be converted to a space where non-jury cases and low risk hearings can be held where transport is minimized. In the short-term, the jury room which has a bench can be used as an extra courtroom. By doing this space will no longer be an issue when the funding for an extra judge is up for consideration.

The money for Visiting Judges comes from dollars earmarked to Humboldt County for that purpose by the Judicial Council. Governor Brown has until 2018 to appoint a judge to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Bruce Watson. Ms. Bartleson hopes that appointment will be sooner.

There are currently seven vacancies in Court Operations and eight staff positions that have been frozen due to the budget.

"We need more court certified interpreters locally," said Ms. Bartleson. "When there is an unique language need, we have to bring interpreters out of the area." Ms. Bartleson would like to save on these travel expenses and reduce expenses in this area. One suggestion she has is for local schools and colleges to offer this training as a part of their curriculum. More Spanish interpreters are needed; Hmong and sign language interpreters have to be brought from out of the area.

"If the Governor's budget passes, there is $30 million allocated to technology," said Ms. Bartleson. "Humboldt County will make an application for a pilot program to try video interpreting."

Oct 6, 2015

Kim Bartleson hired as Humboldt County new Court Executive Officer

The recruitment and interview process to select a new administrator has concluded and the Superior Court has named Ms. Kim Bartleson as its new Court Executive Officer/Jury Commissioner.

Ms. Bartleson is scheduled to begin her duties on October 26, 2015. She comes to the court with 22 years of experience as a court executive in Washington state.  She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Administration from Ashford University, and she is a Fellow of the Institute for Court Management.

 “Our court is moving forward with ongoing operational and organizational changes that the judges and court managers have developed and approved.  We are looking forward to Ms. Bartleson’s leadership,” stated Presiding Judge Joyce Hinrichs.

“I am looking forward to working with the judges and staff.  The operational changes that the court has started implementing will improve case processing, decrease backlogs, and facilitate improved access to justice for the citizens of Humboldt County,” stated Ms. Bartleson.